The Haunting Past
by YH
Summary: A secret from Brooke and Ridge's past comes to light turning their worlds upside down.
1. Chapter 1

Thank you to everyone who read Making It Through The Rain. All the comments were appreciated. I hope you enjoy my new story, The Haunting Past as much. It's quite different than Making It. Enjoy!

"I said, no," Brooke replied into the phone.

"Why not?" the voice asked.

"Because it's what's best for you. Please understand," Brooke pleaded.

Ridge walked into Brooke's office. Brooke motioned for Ridge to sit down and turned her back to him as he did so.

"I don't like this," the voice said.

Tears welled up in Brooke's eyes. Ridge wondered who Brooke was talking to. Fiddling with his briefcase, he pretended not to be avidly listening to her conversation.

"Trust me, it's for the best, at least for now, ok. I gotta go. I'll talk to you later," she said.

"Sure, whatever," the voice replied sullenly.

"Please don't act like this."

"Why? So you won't feel guilty for giving me the brush off like usual? Fine, I forgive you. Go back to your real life now." The line went dead.

"Wait," Brooke yelled. Ridge got out of his seat and walked around Brooke's desk. He turned her around. Tears streamed down her face. He removed the phone from her hand, hung it up, and gently pulled her into an embrace.

"Logan, what's wrong?" he whispered in her ear. Brooke stepped away from Ridge's comforting arms. She grabbed a tissue and blew her nose.

"Nothing I can't handle," she answered.

"You can handle anything, Logan, I have no doubt about that. But that's not what I asked you. I asked you, what's wrong? Is it Rick or Bridget?"

Brooke shook her head. "No, they're fine. A situation has just come up and it's harder to deal with than I originally imagined." She wiped her face. "But that's life." She sat back in her chair and indicated to Ridge to go back to his. He did so reluctantly.

"I'm sorry to be so blunt, but why are you here? Trying to steal our designs?" She gave him a slight smile.

Ridge did not buy the smile for a minute, but it didn't seem like Logan was going to tell him what was bothering her. He decided to give it one last try.

"Logan, I'm here if you ever need me."

She shook her head. "No, you're not," she said as tears threatened to spill down her face again.

He gave her a bewildered look.

Brooke continued, "I mean you are and I know that, but you can't be, Ridge. I've spent more than half my life in love with you and whenever we didn't work out, I would allow myself to fall into relationships with men I couldn't or wouldn't allow myself to love the way they deserved."

Brooke walked over to her window and stared out, seeing nothing.

"I figured if I couldn't give Bridget and Rick the perfect family with you and me as parents, they could at least have a man who loved them and me with all of his heart." Brooke let the tears flow freely. Ridge was stunned into silence by Brooke's words.

"But I failed miserably. Every time there was trouble in your marriage I pounced, destroying whatever I had created with that man. And whenever I was happy in a relationship, you started dropping crumbs of affection again." She began pacing her office floor.

"I don't want that for Hope. I want her to know Uncle Ridge and Aunt Taylor as her mommy's good friends, that's it. And until I can get to that point, then we can't talk."

"What!" Ridge exclaimed. "I agree that we've had an unorthodox relationship over the years, but we've always been able to talk, even when you married dad and had Rick."

"And we flirted," Brooke added.

Ridge nodded. "Friendship between men and women involves flirtation, it doesn't have to lead to anything."

Brooke stopped pacing, stared at Ridge, and rolled her eyes. "You're right. Bridget was almost your daughter because flirtation leads to nothing."

Ridge chose to ignore her comment. "With Whip shirking his fatherly duties, Hope needs to know how men and women relate. She needs a strong male influence in her life."

Brooke shook her head. "You can't be the male figure in her life because our flirtation always leads to something."

Ridge grinned remembering their flirtatious past. Brooke carefully watched his expression.

"That's what I am talking about." She pointed at his grin. "I don't want her to know about our past."

Ridge laughed out loud. "C'mon, Logan, now you're being ridiculous and delusional. There is no way she will not know about us as soon as she starts school, especially once they figure out who her mother is."

"You're right, she will find out. But when she does I want her to react like kids do when they realize for the first time that their parents have sex-" Brooke stared into Ridge's eyes, "with shock and disbelief. So until that can happen. I don't want to talk to you or know you, starting now. Please leave."

Ridge walked over to her. Brooke took a step back with every step he took forward. Finally, Ridge stopped moving.

"Logan, this is crazy. You've been my best friend for more than twenty years."

"Taylor is your wife. She should be your best friend."

Ridge ran his fingers through his hair. "Stop this. You know what I mean."

"No, I don't know what you mean. I only know what you say."

Ridge had had enough. "I'm not allowing this."

Brooke glared at Ridge. "You're not allowing this," she yelled in outrage. "You're not allowing this, when did you become my father. Go sell that line to your kids or Taylor, but not me!"

Picking up the stapler from her desk, Brooke threw it at Ridge as he came closer. It flew through the air, narrowly missing his head.

"Brooke!" He yelled while ducking.

"Get out Ridge!" She pointed to the door.

"Logan, let's talk. I didn't—"

"Don't forget I was the star pitcher of my high school softball team." Brooke picked up the vase that sat on the edge of her desk.

Backpedaling to the door, he opened it and paused. "When you-"

Brooke launched the vase. Ridge quickly slammed the door as the vase smashed against the door, shattering into thousands of pieces.

Brooke took a hundred deep breaths, picked up the phone and dialed.

Thankfully Megan was not at her desk when Ridge walked to the elevators. Taking the elevator down one flight, Ridge was so absorbed in his thoughts about Brooke's speech that he ran directly into his mother as he was getting off the elevator. The papers in his mother's hand scattered everywhere. Ridge bent down with Stephanie and picked them up.

"I'm sorry, mother. Are you alright?" he asked, concerned.

"I'm fine, son. How are you? You seem to be a million miles away."

"It's Brooke," he answered.

Stephanie frowned. "What did she do now?"

Ridge handed his mother the last of the papers. "She didn't do anything. I went to her office."

"Why?" questioned Stephanie.

"I came to see if you and she would like to go to lunch with me. I wanted to celebrate the fact that my mother and best friend are finally getting along," he explained.

"And what happened?"

"I didn't get a chance to ask her, she was on the phone crying. I tried to comfort her."

"Ridge!" Stephanie exclaimed.

"Mother, what was I suppose to do? My best friend was in pain."

"You could have called me or your father."

"It wasn't that type of situation."

Stephanie glared at Ridge.

"Then suddenly, she's telling me how we can't be friends anymore."

"What!" Stephanie asked, shocked.

"I know." Ridge nodded in agreement. "Then she threw me out of her office."

Stephanie smiled, but Ridge was too distracted to notice.

"Mother, what is going on? What are you doing to my relationship with Brooke?" Ridge asked.

Stephanie looked at him with disbelief. "Ridge, you don't have a relationship with her. In order for Brooke to ever be over this obsession she has with you-"

Ridge frowned. He opened his mouth to speak, but Stephanie gave him a look and he closed his mouth.

"I'm quite proud of her, actually. I'm glad she had the strength to cut you out of her life."

"That is nothing to be proud of. I can't allow my best friend, who's been part of my life and has meant as much to me as Brooke has, to do this," Ridge stated with determination.

Walking over to Ridge, Stephanie brought her hand to his face gently stroking his cheek. "If you ever loved or cared about Brooke, you'll respect her wishes and leave her alone." She kissed his cheek and got into the elevator. As the doors closed, she thanked God that Brooke was finally letting Ridge go. Hopefully, soon Brooke would be a fading memory in the Forrester family history.

Ridge watched his mother leave. _No one was going to stop his relationship with Brooke, not his mother, not even Brooke._ He pressed the button and waited for the elevator.

Brooke ran one hand through her hair and the other kept the phone next to her ear. "I don't know what to do."

"Yes, you do, allow him to be part of your life," Storm said from his office in San Diego, while he perused some legal documents.

"Storm, you know it's not that simple."

"Do you love him?"

"Of course."

"Are you ashamed of him?" Storm asked.

"No!" Brooke sat straight up in her chair. "No. That's the same thing he asked."

"With good reason."

"I'm just trying to protect him. I don't want him to get involved in all this madness."

"He already is."

Silence permeated the phone line. Putting down his documents, Storm rubbed his temples.

"Brooke, I'll be straight with you. In the beginning, I thought this was for the best, like you did. But now it's time to let the truth come out. Right now, you're being a coward."

"What! No-" Brooke exclaimed.

"Shut up," Storm yelled into the phone, "and listen. Your cowardice is going to cause you to lose him permanently."

Brooke looked at the broken vase by the door. She then looked at her favorite picture of her, Rick, Bridget, Hope, and Little Eric on her desk. It was time to make some major decisions.

"I love you, lil sis," Storm said softly.

"I love you, too, big bro." Brooke quietly hung up the phone and dissolved into tears.

Justin watched the kids play in the sand. He had been sitting in his hideaway for over an hour watching the identical twin girls dressed in matching bathing suits chase two older boys. The oldest boy was named Zende and the younger boy was Thomas; he had heard the babysitter Catherine say their names. The twins were Stephanie and Phoebe, though he couldn't tell which was which.

Zende told Thomas to go deep as he ran back and threw the football with all of his might. Thomas missed the ball. Justin watched as the ball hit the sand a few feet away from him. Picking up the ball, he waited for Thomas to come get it. Thomas ran up to him and Justin handed Thomas the ball.

"Thanks," Thomas said.

"No, prob," he replied.

"Do you want to play with us?" Thomas asked, nodding towards Zende.

Justin looked down at his unkempt appearance as compared to the expensive looking swimming trunks they were wearing.

"Nah."

"Please, together we can give Zende a run for his money. He thinks he's undefeatable."

Justin liked a challenge, so he nodded in agreement. "Sure," he replied.

They walked over to Zende.

"Zende, this is," Thomas paused and looked at Justin.

"Justin."

Thomas smiled. "Yes, Justin. I'm Thomas, he's Zende."

Zende smiled at Justin. "Let's play," Zende said.

For the next hour, they played and laughed like they had known each other for a lifetime. Finally Catherine started packing up and called Zende and Thomas. Sad, Justin gave the ball back.

"See ya, guys," Justin said and walked away.

Thomas and Zende looked at each other and smiled.

"Wait," they yelled.

"Why don't you come to my house? I've got an X-Box," Thomas said.

"Yes, and Aunt Taylor makes the best food, but don't tell my mom I said that though."

Zende and Thomas looked at each other and laughed hysterically at thoughts of Kristen's cooking.

Justin looked from Zende to Thomas and back again. "Aunt Taylor?" he asked.

"We're cousins," Thomas answered.

"Cool," Justin replied. "Are you sure I can come over for dinner?"

"Let's go ask," Zende said.

The three boys walked over to Catherine and introduced Justin.

"Catherine, is it okay for Justin to come home with us?" Thomas asked.

"Let's call your mom and see," Catherine replied. She grabbed her cell phone and dialed Taylor's number. "Hi, Dr. Hayes, Thomas would like to talk to you."

Catherine handed the phone to Thomas.

"Hi, mom. Fine. I was wondering if I could invite a friend over for dinner?"

Justin hoped it was okay with Thomas' mom for him to come over; he really could use a meal. He felt like he hadn't eaten in weeks, instead of just one day.

"Justin, I, I know him from-" Thomas looked desperately at Zende for an answer.

Zende mouthed, "School."

"From school, mom. Zende and I know him from school. Okay, we will. Thanks. Love you, too." He hung up the phone and handed it back to Catherine. "She said it was fine."

Catherine nodded. "Then let's go."

"I need to go get my stuff," Justin said.

"I'll help him," Thomas said.

They walked back to Justin's spot, while Zende helped Catherine with the twins.

Thomas picked up Justin's skateboard as Justin zipped up his duffle bag. He put his backpack on and carried the duffle bag by its handles.

"Cool skateboard," Thomas exclaimed.

"Thanks."

They chatted about pre-teen boy stuff as they walked to the SUV.

"Boys, dinner's ready," Taylor yelled from the bottom of the staircase.

Zende, Thomas, and Justin ran down the stairs, not stopping until they reached the table.

"Hello, boys," Taylor said as she put the pot on the table.

"Hi, mom."

"Hi, Aunt Taylor."

"Mom, this is Justin," Thomas said, introducing Justin to his mother. "Justin, this is my mom, Dr. Hayes."

Justin held out his hand. Taylor wiped her hands on her apron and shook his hand.

"Nice to meet you," Justin said softly.

"Same here," she replied. "I'm glad you're joining us for dinner." Taylor took off the apron. "Everyone sit down and let's eat."

They all sat down and started passing around the food.

"Where's daddy, mommy? Phoebe asked.

"Daddy will be home as soon as he can," Taylor responded as she fixed Stephie's plate.

Justin couldn't believe his luck. After days of candy bars and chips, this was a feast. He attacked his food with gusto.

"Mom, is it ok if Justin spends the night?" Thomas asked, then quickly added, "His mom said it was okay."

Taylor watched as Thomas and Zende gave her pleading looks and Justin looked at her hesitantly.

"That's fine, though I really wish I had talked to your mother, Justin. We'll call her back after dinner," Taylor said and continued eating.

Justin gave Thomas and Zende a worried look.

"You can't," Justin replied hurriedly.

"Why not is there a problem?" she asked.

"No, not at all-"

Thomas jumped in, "It's just that they don't have a phone at their new house."

Zende continued, "And her cell phone is disconnected."

"Yeah," Justin said.

Taylor looked at the three boys curiously. _What was going on?_ "Where did your mom call you from Justin?"

"From work," he replied.

"Can I contact your father, then?"

Justin put down his fork and stared at his food. "He and my mom aren't together," he answered so softly Taylor barely heard him.

Taylor watched his face drop. "I'm sorry, Justin. I'll talk to your mom when she picks you up tomorrow."

Justin was about to speak, but Taylor cut him off.

"Or I can drop you off. Whichever is easier for your mom. Now who's ready for the main course?"

Taylor got up and walked into the kitchen amidst the twins' cheers as they followed her into the kitchen.

Justin, Thomas, and Zende looked at each other.

"That was close," Thomas said.

The other two nodded in agreement.

"We'll come up with a better story tonight," Zende replied.

Justin nodded again and resumed eating.


	2. Chapter 2

**  
Ridge woke early, quietly walking downstairs, so as not to disturb Taylor or the children. Walking to the kitchen, he enjoyed the stillness and solitude of the house. As he made a pot of coffee, something outside caught his attention. He looked out the window and saw a flash of someone dive gracefully into the Olympic size pool. He knew from the splash-less entrance that it was neither Thomas or Zende. Pouring himself a cup of coffee, he went outside to investigate further. He stood at the shallow end, waiting for the person to surface. A blond headed boy's head surfaced.**

"Good morning," Ridge greeted him.

"Good morning," Justin responded.

"It's a little early to be out here."

"There is nothing like a refreshing swim to start the day off."

Ridge threw his head back and laughed loudly. "That's an adult quote if I've ever heard one."

Justin nodded. "My uncle said it every morning when he woke me at 5am to swim and dive."

Ridge smiled and held out his hand. "I'm Ridge Forrester. And you are?"

Justin held up his wet hands.

"It's okay, a little water never hurt anyone."

Justin shook Ridge's hand. "I'm Justin Anderson."

"Nice to meet you, son."

"Nice to meet you."

Justin got out of the pool and Ridge handed him his towel. As he dried off, they walked to the kitchen.

"Would you like to help me make breakfast?"

Justin nodded. "Sure."

Ridge got out the ingredients for pancakes, eggs, bacon, sausage, and toast. "How do you know Zende and Thomas?"

Justin concentrated on beating the eggs, as he remembered the story they worked on last night. "Math class with Mr. Houser."

Ridge nodded. "Did you just move here, I don't remember you at Thomas' birthday party?"

"Yeah, we just moved here."

"From where?"

"Portland."

"Oregon, hmm. I haven't visited there much."

Justin made no comment.

"Do you live close by?"

Justin shook his head. "My mom and I live in- -" crap, what was the name of the city Mont-, Monty-.

Ridge paused, waiting for him to continue.

"Montebello!"

Ridge looked at him strangely.

"It's so new, I forget it's name sometimes."

Ridge nodded and continued cooking the pancakes.

He couldn't forget that name. Zende had picked it cause it was in East Los Angeles and none of their family would have any ties, connections, or dealings there.**They continued cooking making small talk about school, sports and whatever else came to mind. Justin imagined this is what fathers and sons do with each other.**

As they were putting the finishing touches on breakfast, Taylor strolled in.

"Good morning," she said.

"Good morning, Taylor." He sometimes wondered if he should have agreed to her idea of him staying in the house until the divorce was finalized. He had the strangest feeling that she was hoping that they would get back together and that wasn't happening. It was time for him to move and for Taylor too. They both needed to start over and have a fresh start. Maybe he should think about moving out before the divorce was finalized.

"Morning, Mrs. Forrester."

"Good morning, Justin. Did you sleep well? I hope you boys didn't stay up to late."

"No, we didn't, Mrs. Forrester."

"Well, that's good. Why don't you go get the boys up, while I help Mr. Forrester put breakfast on the table."

He nodded and headed out the kitchen. 


	3. Chapter 3

She wondered what was going on as Stephanie and Phoebe chattered throughout dinner. As soon as dinner was over, Taylor gave the twins permission to watching _Finding Nemo_ for the billionth time before bath time. Justin and Thomas tried to ease away from the dinner table, but one look from Ridge had them both seated with their heads down.

"Can someone please tell me what's going on?" Taylor questioned.

"I would like to know too," Ridge added.

Justin and Thomas opened their mouths and spoke at the same time.

"Whoa! Stop. One at a time," Ridge requested.

Thomas and Justin looked at each other and Justin shook his head.

"I've been staying in the guest house," Justin stated.

"You've what!" Taylor asked.

"For how long?" Ridge questioned.

"Since I left here," Justin answered honestly.

"That was a week ago," she exclaimed.

Justin nodded.

"Where are your parents?" Taylor questioned, deeply concerned. She couldn't imagine Thomas being gone or missing for over a week.

Lowering his head, Justin fiddled with the edge of his t-shirt and said nothing.

"Thomas, go upstairs, please," Ridge said in a tone to be reckoned with.

Thomas hesitated, waiting for Justin to give him a signal. Justin nodded and Thomas left the room.

"Let's move to the living room," Taylor suggested.

They made the short journey to the living room. Ridge and Justin sat on opposites ends of the couch; Taylor sat across from them in her favorite chair.

"Is Justin is your real name?" Ridge questioned.

Justin nodded, still not looking at either of them.

"Justin, we're not trying to scare you or hurt you, we just want to help, okay?" Taylor said gently.

Justin looked up in Taylor's direction and gave his non-verbal consent of approval.

"Justin is your real name. Do you go to school with Thomas and Zende?"

He shook his head.

"Where did you meet them, then?"

"At the beach."

Ridge quietly watched the interaction between Taylor and Justin. He wanted to say something, but he couldn't. He didn't trust himself to. He looked over at the pre-adolescent boy and shook his head. How could a boy bright enough to pull off living right under their noses be dumb enough to pull a stunt like that? Pinching his nose, he took a deep breath. Justin didn't know this family from Adam, yet he took a chance and holed up in this house. What if he and Taylor had been abusers or sexual predators or murderers? How could he get Justin to understand that? He shouldn't be fooled by trappings. Thinking he and Taylor were good people just because they lived in Beverly Hills in a mansion and drove Benzes. These trappings meant nothing and didn't give one inkling about the type of people, he and Taylor were. He hated to imagine what Justin's parents were thinking and feeling. If this had been Thomas, he would just… He wouldn't allow himself to even go there, instead he would tune back in to the conversation.

"What were you doing there?" Taylor asked.

Justin suddenly developed an avid fascination with the throw pillows on the sofa. Tears welled up in his eyes, but he fought vigorously to keep them at bay. He wasn't going to cry, but he couldn't talk and hold the tears back.

"The story about your mom being a nurse and not having a phone was all made up, right?"

Justin nodded with his head still down.

"Whose idea was it to for you to stay in the guest house?" Ridge finally jumped in and asked.

Sniffling and running his hand across his face quickly, Justin answered. "Mine. I never saw anyone go in there when I was here over the weekend. Thomas mentioned how Mrs. Forrester didn't use it anymore. So I thought I could stay there and no one would know."

"But the boys discovered you living there," Taylor said.

"No, Phoebe and Steffy saw me in the window and told the boys."

"Everyone in this house was keeping secrets. We're definitely having a talk with the kids about this," Ridge said more to himself then to the others in the room.

"Mr. Forrester, it wasn't their fault. I should have never stayed here, I should've stayed on the beach and then went up to Seattle like I planned," he stated passionately.

Ridge reached across the sofa and grabbed the boy.

"Ridge, what are you doing?" Taylor asked concerned.

"Seattle! What is wrong with you little boy? What are you 11, 12?" Ridge demanded.

"11½," Justin whispered.

"You think that's old enough to be your own? Do you know what can happen to you out there on the streets? Nothing good." Ridge lightly shook Justin. "If you were lucky, the cops would catch you and put you in foster care. But if you weren't, you'd be turning tricks on a street corner or selling drugs for gang members. Is that what you want to do with your life?" Ridge yelled at him.

Justin shook his head.

"Answer me boy, don't shake your head."

"No, I don't want that," Justin cried and the tears flowed like a waterfall.

Ridge tightly embraced the boy and they cried together.

Taylor stared at the pair, wiping her own tears. She had never seen Ridge like that before. She had never seen him react to anything with such passion and anger.


	4. Chapter 4

An early Easter treat...

Justin looked away from Taylor, having a sudden fascination with the sofa pillows. Tears welled up in his eyes.

"Oh," Taylor sighed with recognition. "Your mom being a nurse and you living in Montebello was all made up?"

"Yes," Justin said softly.

"Who came up with that story?" Ridge inquired.

"All of us."

"And Montebello?" Ridge asked curious.

"Zende figured it was safe bet since you never go to that part of town."

Ridge and Taylor nodded.

"And the guest house?"

"That was me."

Ridge looked at him, skeptical.

Justin nodded. "It was. Thomas mentioned when we were outside playing that no one ever used the guest house so I figured I could stay there until I figured out my next move."

"Which was?"

He shrugged his shoulders.

"Justin, your mom must be frantic," Taylor exclaimed.

"She thinks I'm on a camping trip," Justin stated softly.

"So she doesn't even know you're gone yet?" Taylor jumped out of her chair and ran to the phone. "We have to call her. What's her number?"

He remained silent.

Taylor took in the silent treatment and relented. "Fine, then give me your dad's number."

The silence continued.

Taylor and Ridge exchanged glances and silently agreed on the next course of action.

Ridge moved closer to Justin. "Son, you can tell us anything. Whatever's wrong, we'll help you. We promise." Ridge lifted the boy's chin with his finger. "I promise, I'll protect you."

"I don't know who my dad is. Whenever I ask my mom about him, she says, 'He's a great man who loves me very much, but can't be with me right now.'" The tears fell silently on his cheeks.

Taylor walked over to the sofa and knelt in front of him. "Did you leave home to come and find him?"

He shook his head. "I don't even know how. I don't have a name, a picture, nothing."

"We'll help you find him," Ridge told Justin.

Wiping the fallen tears with the back of his hand, Justin looked up at Ridge with amazement sparkling his eyes. "You will?"

"Yes- -"

"But we also need to contact your mom," Taylor interjected, trying to bring Ridge back to the main reason of their discussion.

"I don't live with her. She has another life and another family. I'm just a mistake." Justin stood up and headed towards the door. "I'm going to go. Thanks for everything, Mr. and Mrs. Forrester."

Ridge grabbed his arm before he could take another step. "You're not going anywhere. So stop with that foolish talk. And you're no mistake." Lowering himself to Justin's level, Ridge looked directly into his eyes. "You're a good kid and I know right now you're hurting, but deep down you don't want your mom worrying that something bad has happened to you or someone has taken you, right?"

Justin reluctantly nodded his head.

"When are you supposed to come back from the camping trip?"

"On Saturday."

Ridge nodded. "That gives you two days to decide to either give us your home address so we can reassure everyone that you're okay or give us your mom's phone number so we can talk to her." He held out his hand. "Do we have a deal?"

Justin slowly lifted his hand, as if unsure, but finally grasped Ridge's hand and gave it a firm shake. "Deal."

Standing, Ridge tossled his hair and said, "Grab your bags and go up to Thomas' room. I know he's waiting for you."

Justin grabbed his bags and ran for the stairs. He paused and turned to face the Forresters, "Thanks," and continued up the stairs.

"You're welcome," they replied to his retreating back.

He waved in acknowledgement of their statement.

Once Taylor was sure they wouldn't be overheard or seen, she ran into Ridge's arms.

"Ridge, he was sleeping on the beach. Do you know what could have- -? He's the same age as Thomas- -" She shook her head and buried her face in his chest.

Rubbing her back and comforting her, Ridge said, "I know, Doc. I know. Thank God, Thomas and Zende found him and brought him here, to safety."

Leaving the comfort of her husband's arms, Taylor stepped away from him and wiped her tear stained face. "But what about his mother? Can you even imagine what she must be going through?" She paused. "If she knows," she whispered, with a frown.

"Don't worry we'll contact her," he said trying to be reassuring.

"How Ridge? From what I witnessed he'd rather run away from here than to tell us anything."

"Well if he doesn't then I call Jonathan and have him hire a private investigator. Justin, Thomas, and Zende have been making movies all week. With those images, a P.I. can start looking for the boy's mother. From the looks of him, he hasn't been on the streets long and he has no discernable accent which means he can't be from that far away."

"But we'd be betraying his trust."

"This is just Plan B. If he gives us a way to contact his mother, then the rest isn't necessary. But I'm preparing just in case."

Taylor nodded

* * *

"Nice catch, Eric. Now throw it to Hope. Gently," Brooke said to Little Eric. When Hope caught the ball, Brooke and Little Eric cheered and clapped their hands. Hope basked in the praise.

Having taken off her blazer, Brooke rolled up her sleeves. She was going to have to start dressing more casual on the days she had lunch and played with Hope and Little Eric.

"Hopie, now you throw," Little Eric commanded.

Hope's little toddler arms threw the ball as hard and as far as she could.

Brooke moved to the side to catch the wayward ball. She smiled. Those years on the volleyball team diving after balls were coming in handy.

"Good job, Hopie," Little Eric exclaimed.

"Tanks," she replied grinning.

"Throw hard, Granma, I catch it," Little Eric demanded.

Brooke smiled and as she began to throw the ball, the phone rang. Darn, she thought, Megan knew her time with the kids was important, meaning the phone call was very important.

Brenda rolled the ball to Eric. "You two play while I take this call," she said to the two toddlers.

Little Eric and Hope happily played by themselves as she got off the floor and to the phone as quick as possible.

"Hello," she said.

"Brooke, I'm so sorry," the voice cried.

"Donna, Donna, what's wrong?" Brooke asked as a wave of fear coursed through her body.

"He's gone. He took all his savings and left. He didn't go on the camping trip," Donna said in between crying bouts. "I'm so sorry, so sorry."

"Donna, calm down," she commanded trying to stay focus. "Where is he now?"

"They're looking for him. I'm sorry," Donna cried.

Brooke couldn't deal with Donna's emotions or her apologies right now. "Donna listen to me, is there anyone else there with you?"

"Yes."

"Let me speak to them, please," Brooke requested.

A neighbor of Donna's informed her as to what had taken place and how the situation was being handled.

Brooke thanked the woman and hung up. Tears fell down her face and quickly the tears turned to sobs and her body was racked with them. Suddenly she felt two bodies struggling to sit in her lap. She lifted her head and helped Little Eric and Hope lay comfortable against her. They both threw their arms around her and tried to give her all their strength, which she sorely needed.


	5. Chapter 5

Happy Mother's Day to all the mothers out there! Here's a Mother's Day treat.

Brooke rearranged the floral bouquet on the mantle for the hundredth time. She checked the clock and stared at the front door willing it to open with all her might. She had never felt this way before and the sooner she got this over with the sooner life could go back to normal. She chuckled--at least returning to this new normal she was trying to forge. She prayed everything turned out okay for everyone's sake.

The doorbell rang and Brooke forced herself not to run to the door, but take her time.

"Hello, Ridge," she said, opening the door for him.

"Good evening, Logan," he responded, walking into his former home.

They walked into the living room and sat on opposite sides of the sofa.

"Would you like something to drink?"

"No thanks."

Brooke nodded.

"I was surprised to hear from you. The last time we spoke, you made it clear that we shouldn't have anything to do we each other nor were we friends."

"I know," she said solemnly.

"So you can understand my confusion as to why I'm here," Ridge continued.

Nodding again, Brooke stood and started pacing the floor.

"Ridge, I've been lying to you."

Releasing a huge sigh, Ridge jumped up and embraced Brooke. "You weren't lying to me Logan, you were lying to yourself. Our relationship is complicated and- -" He shook his head trying to find the right word. "It's very intricate. I apologize for ever hurting you, so let's just move forward."

Brooke shook her head and moved away from him. "No, that's not it."

He looked at her puzzled. "What is it then?"

She gestured to the sofa. "Have a seat."

Reluctantly, he went back to the sofa and sat down.

"I meant what I said to you that day. I'm not apologizing for any of it. This is about something else, something much more important."

"What could you have to say that's more important than our relationship?" he questioned with disbelief evident in his voice.

"Ridge, let me talk and regardless of what I say, don't interrupt, okay?" she asked, her voice taking on a pleading tone.

Concern marred Ridge's face as he nodded in agreement to Brooke's request.

"When we were married the last time and I told you I miscarried- -"

He held up his hands. He didn't want to talk about this painful period in their lives. The only time he had truly doubted Brooke. His mother and Taylor tried to make him believe Brooke had never been pregnant, but he knew she would never use a child to manipulate him. In his own mind, he worked out what happened. She had one of those phantom pregnancies. He had consulted a doctor and explained the situation to her and she told him it was possible all things considering.

"Let's not talk about the past, it's over and done with- -"

"No, Ridge, you have to listen. You promised not to say anything."

"I don't want to rehash a painful time in our lives."

"Please, Ridge," she begged with tears in her eyes.

He started to move towards her. She shook her head and he stopped.

"Do you remember how I spent a lot of time in San Diego trying to come to grips with the annulment?"

He opened his mouth, then thought again and nodded.

"Well, I was also," she paused, walked over to the end of the table, picked up a photo album and handed it to Ridge.

He cautiously took the album from her.

"Please," she implored.

Ridge opened the album and staring up at him was a hospital picture of a sleeping baby boy. He studied the picture, the baby reminded him of someone. Maybe it was Bridget. Bridget use to tilt her head to the side to sleep as a baby. He flipped the page and saw the baby boy in various propped up poses in a Christening gown. In the professional shot was a birth announcement:

_Welcome to the world,_

_Justin Storm Forrester Logan_

_Weight: 6'5 pounds_

_Height: 19" inches_

Ridge paused and reread the announcement repeatedly. "Justin Storm Forrester Logan," he whispered.

"He's our son, Ridge. That beautiful little boy is ours," Brooke cried.

"How? Logan, explain this?" Ridge demanded.

"I almost had a miscarriage due to all the stress of Taylor and Thomas and the end of our marriage. My doctor asked me if I was willing to do whatever it took to maintain my pregnancy and have a healthy baby. And I realized if I couldn't have you, I could at least have part of you, part of us. I kept a low profile, kept my distance from the family, and it paid off because six and a half months later, Justin was born."

Unshed tears clouded Ridge's eyes, but he kept turning pages and watching Justin grow right before his eyes.

"Why? Why didn't you tell me? Did you do this to get back at me?"

"No! No, Ridge, I would never do that to you. I used to tell myself that I didn't tell you so you wouldn't have to choose between Thomas and Justin. But to be honest, I was afraid you wouldn't care."

Ridge slammed the photo album down on the table, walked over to Brooke, and grabbed her.

"You thought I wouldn't care about my own child! Do you even know me! Do I even know you?" Ridge shouted.

He dropped her arms in disgust and turned his back to her.

"You know what I know, Ridge. I know that for six years Bridget was your daughter, hell you even delivered her. You were involved in her life and Ric's. You were the one Ric looked up to. You were the one who taught him how to swim, how to start a fire for his Boy Scout badge, not Eric. But with one found letter, you dropped my children like they were yesterday's news." Brooke yelled at him. She spun him around to face her and all her fury.

"What was it Dr. Hayes suggested in all her great wisdom?" Brooke paused, pretending to remember. "Oh, yeah that's right, a quick, clean break was for the best. It was best for you, Taylor, and Stephanie, but not for my kids. Ric and Bridget cried for two continuous months. They fought over who would sleep on Papa's side of the bed." Tears ran down Brooke's face, but they flowed unnoticed.

"Papa," Ridge repeated softly.

Brooke nodded. "Ric decided that he should call you Papa and Bridget, wanting to be like her brother, wanted to start calling you that, too." Brooke took a breath.  
"One minute, they had a Papa and the next, they had a brother, who replaced them with a new wife and a baby and had no time for them."

"I did not replace them," he roared. "How dare you?"

"I dare because that's how Ric and Bridget felt. Ric asked me if he was a baby like Thomas, would you have stayed," Brooke roared back.

Ridge was stunned, devastated at Brooke's words. His heart broke and he sobbed as if there was no tomorrow.

"So you ask why I didn't tell you about Justin, it's because I couldn't deal with a third child asking me, why didn't their Papa love them enough to stay when I truly didn't understand myself."

"I loved, I love Bridget and Ric with all my heart- -"

"But not enough to stay."

"I wasn't their father, Dad was."

Brooke shook her head. "No, you weren't their father. You were just their Dad, their Papa." She quickly wiped the tears from her face with her hand. "The man who hung the sun, the moon, and the stars in the sky."

"Thomas deserved a father. None of this was his fault. Nor was it Bridget and Ric's, but they had a dad of their own."

Brooke chuckled. "I told them that, I said, 'Ridge had to go be a Dad to Thomas because Thomas didn't have one.' And they asked, 'But can't Papa be all of our Papas?' I said, 'You have a dad, Eric.' And they never asked about you again or when or if you were coming back. But Bridget slept in a pair of socks you left behind and Ric slept every night with the panda you bought him when two went to the zoo. They never stopped missing you, but they gave up hope."

She walked to the window and moved the curtains aside to look out at on the setting sun.

"I never meant to hurt them. I didn't want to hurt anyone. It was like I was walking in a minefield and any way I turned someone was going to get hurt. I didn't know what to do," Ridge commented, trying to explain or make some sense of his past actions. "It was so hard- -"

"You know the first thing Ric said to me the first time he held Little Eric in his arms. 'I hope I can be as good a dad as Papa was to me.'

If it was possible, his heart shattered into smaller pieces. "Oh, Ric," he cried.

"They hadn't forgotten a thing, they just moved on."

Picking up the photo album, she flipped to the last page. "I didn't want our newest son to have to move on." She shoved the latest school picture of Justin under Ridge's face.

Ridge looked at the picture. "What the- - Where's Justin! Go upstairs and get Hope," Ridge commanded.

Brooke didn't move and opened her mouth.

"Brooke, now." His voice left no room for argument.

Brooke flew into action. Minutes later, Hope was strapped in her car seat in Ridge's Jaguar. Brooke wanted to ask where they were headed, but judging by the look on Ridge's face she wisely opted not to ask any questions.


	6. Chapter 6

"Ridge, where are we going?" she asked for the millionth time.

Ridge remained stoically silent as if he hadn't heard her.

Brooke was good at reading Ridge, but right now she wasn't getting anything. This was killing her. She had just told him an earth shattering, lifechanging secret and she was being treated to stony, unnerving silence. So lost in her thoughts and complaints, she hadn't noticed that Ridge had pulled into his driveway.

"Ridge, what are we doing here?" she questioned as Ridge got out and took Hope and her baby bag out of the car.

Brooke quickly followed. "Ridge?"

He opened the door and motioned for her to enter first. Ok, enough was enough. No more silent treatment.

"Mom?" Justin questioned in disbelief and amazement.

"Justin," Brooke exclaimed, racing towards her son, who was emerging form the kitchen with Thomas and Zende.

Taylor walked down the stairs at the same moment Brooke and Justin embraced. Had she heard correctly? Had Justin called Brooke, Mom? She looked to Ridge for confirmation or denial, but none was needed upon seeing the tears in his eyes. How was this possible? She mentally calculated Justin's age and instantly knew who Justin was and who his father was. Justin was the product of the pregnancy that she and Stephanie had worked overtime to convince Ridge either didn't exist or was a hysterical pregnancy.

With Thomas' and Zende's mouths on the floor, Brooke cried, "I've been so worried about you. So scared. I missed you so much."

"I missed you too, Mommy," Justin cried, dropping his tough guy image. He was thrilled to be in his mother's arms once again.

Creating an inch of space between herself and Justin, Brooke looked at her son, marveled at the miracle that had brought them together and the miracle that he was. She peppered his face with kisses. "I love you, Justin. I love you. Love you."

"I love you, too."

"Don't you ever think of doing anything like that again."

He shook his head. "Never again." He had learned his lesson. Running away wasn't fun at all.

"Any problem you have you can talk to me about and if not me then Uncle Storm, Uncle Mick, Grandpa, Grandma, Aunt Donna, Aunt Katie. 'kay?"

"Okay."

"Brooke is your mom?" Thomas asked perplexed.

Reluctantly releasing her hold on her son, Brooke kept her arm wrapped around his shoulders as Justin turned to face Zende and Thomas.

"Yes, she is," Justin answered with a smile.

"What? How?" Thomas continued.

"She- -" Justin began.

"Enough with the questions- -" Ridge stated.

"The who- -" Phoebe started, then looked to her twin for help as they walked down the stairs.

"Whore," Stephie said nonchalantly.

"The whore got pregnant that's how," Phoebe finished.

The adults and older kids were stunned.

"Where in the world did you hear such things?" Taylor questioned.

"We heard you and Grandma talking," the twins replied in unison. "Daddy, what's a whore?"

Ridge worked hard at schooling his features to keep the kids from seeing his seething rage. "It's an adult word that I don't want anyone using. Understand?" he asked, looking at each of the kids until they nodded. "It's a bad word. Now why don't you go upstairs and pack, we're going on a trip."

"Yeah!" the twins cheered and ran to their rooms.

"Go supervise, Thomas, Zende, Justin," Ridge commanded.

The boys, still shell-shocked from everything that had happened, moved slowly to obey Ridge.

"Now, boys and take Hope, too," he reiterated harshly.

The boys jumped to attention and quickly disappeared, leaving the three adults alone.

"Where are you taking the kids?" Taylor asked.

"Anywhere away from you and my mother," Ridge spat. "Did you hear the words that came out of our babies' mouths? The sight of you right now sickens me- -"

"Ridge, I had no idea the children- -"

"What? That they were listening. Or that they understood who you and Mother were talking about." He laughed bitterly.

"Ridge," Taylor pleaded.

"And to top it off, you don't have the decency to even apologize to Brooke."

Taylor turned towards Brooke. "Bro- -"

"Save it, Taylor. I don't want to hear it," Brooke commented. "I'm going to help the kids."

Waiting for Brooke to disappear from view, Ridge's eyes looked at the seemingly happy family pictures placed throughout the living room. What a joke. He should have left and expedited this divorce, like he first wanted to. But no, he had caved per usual when his mother and Taylor started pressuring him. But no more. No more giving into them. No more going against his basic instincts or his intuition. His heart wept at the words that spewed so innocently and unknowingly from his daughters' mouths. They were spreading their jealousy, their hatred of Brooke to his kids. His babies. Well they weren't doing any of that anymore.

"Ridge, I'm so sorry- -" Taylor commenced.

Shaking his head, he looked at the woman he had given up his dream for. "You're not sorry for what you said, you're sorry you got caught. I'm done. I'm done. I want those papers signed and on Connor's desk tomorrow morning. This farce is over. And if you ever, ever speak about Brooke or anyone else like that I will sue you for sole custody of my children." Running up the stairs, he paused. "Yes, Justin is my son. You know the one from the pregnancy that didn't exist or was hysterical."

This couldn't be happening to her. Not to her. She couldn't, no, she wouldn't cry. Marching over to the phone, she quickly dialed the number engraved in her heart. "Stephanie," she cried.


	7. Chapter 7

Enjoy the long weekend. Let the summer begin!

Brooke didn't want to take her eyes off of him for one minute, one second. One, because he had run away and scared her half to death. And second because she couldn't believe her baby was home. He was finally home. Not living with her sister, her brother, or her parents, but with her. In his rightful place, in her home, under her roof like mother and child are supposed to be. Finally they were together. They no longer had to hide. She no longer had to live in fear that someone would find out the truth. It was now all out in the open and her heart rejoiced. And now that her family had been alerted about the return of the run away, she could concentrate on making Justin feel at home.

"Mom, where do you want us to sleep?" Justin asked, breaking her reverie.

"You and Thomas can sleep in your soon to be room. It's next to Ric's room. Stephanie, you and Phoebe can sleep in Budge's room," Brooke answered. The kids nodded and headed for the stairs. "Justin, can you put your sister in her crib?"

Walking over to Ridge, Justin took the sleeping infant from him. He gave his mother a puzzled look.

"I'll show you where her room is and yours too," Thomas replied to the unasked question.

Brooke's heart took a direct hit. Of course, Justin wouldn't know where his room or Hope's room was. He had never been here before. He had never, before a few minutes ago, even seen a picture of the home where his siblings were raised. But she couldn't let this get to her. There would be a lot of moments like these, and she had to keep the important things in mind, like her son was home, her son was home. It would become her new mantra. "I'll be up in a few to tuck you in."

As the kids disappeared from view, she pinched herself to make sure she was awake.

"So I guess we're staying over?" Ridge asked, after being silent since leaving his home.

She shrugged. "I thought it would be easier than the kids staying in a hotel. Plus, like me, I figured you didn't want to be away from Justin."

Taking a seat on the sofa, he nodded. He was exhausted, mentally, emotionally. His marriage was finally over. He had a son that he didn't know existed. A son that his ex-wife/best friend had kept hidden from him for almost twelve years. His mother and soon-to-be-ex-wife were teaching his kids to hate their brother's mother. When had his life turned into such a nightmare? Where had he taken a wrong turn?

The anger he felt towards Brooke was like nothing he ever felt before. He wanted to throw things, yell at her, let her rot in hell for an eternity and then maybe, just maybe she would begin to understand his hurt, his betrayal. Yet as those feelings rushed through his body, he kept hearing Brooke's voice in his head. Hearing for himself how Ric and Bridget felt when he left. He had known.

He used to sit outside their school, wanting to go to them, but ultimately deciding not to. He saw them turn from carefree, happy children with a bounce in their steps to kids who had the world on their shoulders, bags under their eyes. His heart had broken. But he didn't know what to do. He didn't know who to turn to for help, for advice. He had been surrounded by people who had their own agendas. But he had eased his own conscious remembering what a great dad, Eric, had been to him, Thorne, Kristen, and Felicia. He told himself Eric would step up to the plate and be the same great father to Ric and Bridget, though he knew in hisheart that wouldn't happen. His mother wasn't going to allow Eric to be a dad to Brooke's kids. He knew his father had been much happier in the role of grandfather and gladly handed over parental duties to him. But in his heart he knew that his babies were going to fall by the wayside; and he just stood back and let it happen, with his mother and Taylor telling him it was all for the best.

"Brooke- -"

She shook her head. She didn't want to get into all of that tonight. "Not tonight, not tonight." She couldn't stand to hear his excuses. To hear him try to explain why it was okay to dump Bridget and Ric, but not okay to leave Taylor's precious baby, Thomas. She didn't want to listen to a minute of his misdirected anger at her, blaming her for missing out on Justin's life. Had he not been so consumed with Taylor and Thomas and groveling for his mother's approval, he would have noticed her body become more voluptuous. He would have seen the expanding stomach. But he, like everyone else in the Forrester family, saw only what they wanted to see. And it was most convenient for them to see nothing.

The more she thought back on that time, the angrier she became at herself, at Ridge. They had both failed their children. She had failed by not doing a better job of protecting them from the hurt and pain. She should have fought harder. She should have demanded that Ridge see with his own two eyes the destruction he had left in his wake. She should have shoved her pregnant belly in his face so he could see what he had given up, what he left behind.

She took a deep breath. She couldn't concentrate on this anger or it would destroy her. Her son was home. She had a relationship to repair and work on with her youngest son. He was safe and sound. He wasn't lying dead and nameless on some street corner. He wasn't some pervert's play thing. He was with her, where he belonged from the day he was born. And nothing, nothing was ever going to separate them again. "Blankets and pillows are still in the linen closet," she informed Ridge not caring if he was listening, as she took the stairs two at a time. It had been too long since she last had her son in her arms.


	8. Chapter 8

Summer is coming! Summer is coming!

"This is quite a spread for just us and the kids," Ridge stated, walking into the dining room.

"Good morning to you, too."

"I'm sorry. Good morning."

"I invited Ric, Amber, and Bridget over so they could meet Justin," she said, placing the orange juice on the table. "If you want to take a shower, Ric's bathroom is free. The kids should be down in a minute."

He remained silent. He felt like he stepped into bizarro world. How were they supposed to act towards each other? He now knew about the existence of a son she had kept hidden for over a decade. Were you just supposed to sit down and have breakfast with each other like it was a natural occurrence? Like nothing had happened? But as quickly as those questions came to him, his heart reminded him that once upon a time such breakfasts were normal. The kids getting dressed upstairs could have all been theirs. Bridget and Ric would be coming home to have breakfast with their parents, to get a taste of home. Before the argument in his head could get any louder or go any further, feet pounding the stairs caught his attention.

"Brooke, I like my dress. Thanks," Phoebe and Stephanie said in unison.

"You're welcome," she answered. "Have a seat."

He watched as she pulled out the chairs for the twins and put Hope in her high chair. She greeted the boys, making sure to give Thomas his space and not smother Justin to death in hugs and kisses and "I love yous." She was born to be a mother. He had thought the same thing the first time he saw her with Ric.

"Ridge? Ridge?" Brooke called.

"Yes," he answered, finally hearing her. "Have a seat. I just heard the kids pull in."

"Mom, I left something upstairs," Justin announced before getting up from the table and racing upstairs.

"Excuse me, is the phrase," she shouted after him.

Seconds later, the door opened and Ric, Amber, and Bridget walked in.

"Good morning," they greeted.

"Good morning," the seated Forresters returned.

"Ridge, what are you doing here?" Ric asked, mistrust and suspicion evident in his voice.

"Ric, give him a break," Amber reprimanded.

He rolled his eyes, but did as his wife asked.

"Where's Little Eric?" Brooke asked, as she handed Stephanie her plate back and began making Phoebe's.

"Stephanie and Eric are babysitting him," her daughter-in-law answered.

"Mom, whose barely touched food- -" Bridget questioned.

"That's what I wanted to talk to- -" Brooke started.

"Hey squirt, what are you doing here?" Ric interrupted, talking to the returning Justin.

"Ric, Bridget, Amber, what are you guys doing here?" Justin asked excited, as he sat back down at the table and began eating.

Ric and Bridget looked from their mother to the ex-step-father and then back again.

"I think we're here so mom could tell us about you officially," Bridget answered.

"Brooke, you told them?" Ridge demanded.

"How did you guys know?" Brooke asked.

"Mom," Ric said, shaking his head. "You didn't raise idiots even if you married some- -"

"Eric Forrester, Junior, you're not too old to go across my lap," Brooke reprimanded.

"You can still get a spanking when you're Ric's age?" Stephie asked in disbelief.

"You didn't think we'd notice the pants with the elastic and extra buttons. We weren't babies. I knew what maternity meant."

"But you never said anything?"

"Mom, you were having a tough time. We had to protect you and our little brother," Ric continued, looking directly at Ridge. "I would protect you from anyone and anything."

Ridge read the message his ex-son was sending him loud and clear.

"That wasn't your job. I'm the parent."

"Well, being a parent means different things to different people obviously," Ric retorted.

"I'm so glad you're home, Justin," Bridget jumped in before Brooke or Ridge could respond to Ric's not so subtle put down of Ridge's parenting skills.

"So am I."

"How you doing with all this, squirt?" Ric asked concerned.

Shoveling food in his mouth, Justin nodded and chewed quickly.

"Justin, slow down, please," Brooke requested in her most motherly voice.

The pre-teen nodded and kept chewing at the same rate. "It's cool. I love Aunt Donna and all, but I'm glad I'm home. I have a brother my own age and two new sisters. And now you and Budge can come to all my baseball games. Mom, Thomas said there's space still on his and Zende's team, can I join?"

"It's may I, and your father and I will discuss it."

"I hope you two do discuss it. There's nothing like an involved father who truly cares for his son. Well, I guess it's easier when the same blood runs through your veins," Ric said.

"Ric," Bridget cried.

"Okay, guys and girls, I think you're all done. There are bathing suits on your beds and if you take your plates in the kitchen and put on your suits, I'm sure Marta would love to watch you swim in the pool," Brooke said, enticing the kids.

"Mom would never let us go swimming this early in the morning," Thomas informed Brooke.

"Thomas," Ridge reprimanded.

"No, Ridge it's fine. This is a special occasion so by the time you change, help Marta clean the kitchen, make your beds, clean up your messes in the bathroom, then I think it'll be late enough to go swimming," Brooke responded.

Thomas' face fell. "We have to clean?"

"Well, yes. It'll help the time go by faster, then it'll be late enough for you to go swimming. Chop! Chop!" she replied, urging the children from the table. "And remember if it's not cleaned right the first time, you have to keep cleaning it until it is."

Phoebe, Stephie, Thomas, and Justin excused themselves and began taking their plates and untensils to the kitchen and then off to clean.

"Ric, don't you dare speak like that again in front of those children. I don't care what your issues are with Ridge but you better clear them up ASAP. He is your brother's father, which means he will be involved in Justin's life- -"

Ric snorted and Bridget rolled her eyes.

Feeling the rising tension, Amber grabbed her plate and snuck out the room.

Ridge looked into the faces of the children he had once considered his and the damage he had done was evident on their faces.

"I'm not asking you to like Ridge or be his best friend. But in front of the children, in this house, and in my presence, you will treat him with respect," Brooke commanded to both her elder children.

"Fine! Take his side as always. Poor Ridge can't stand up for himself and here you come to the rescue as usual. Are Stephanie and Taylor going to jump out and start calling you a home wrecking whore and slut to complete this lovely morning?" Ric continued.

Ridge jumped out of his seat. "Don't you dare speak to your mother that way," he roared.

Ric stood up, not afraid of Ridge or getting in his face. "It's okay for your mother, your wife, and anyone else you know to say those things to my mom in your presence, but now that you have a bio kid with her, now you're going to stand up for her. Whatever, Ridge! You're a louse of a father and every night I thank God you walked out on us so I didn't have you as a role model growing up. Brooke Logan was and is the greatest mother and father any kid could ever have or wish for." Grabbing his plate and his sister's, Ric walked towards the kitchen with Bridget following him. "And don't worry when you lose interest in Justin, I'll be there and I'll continue to be the father he needs."

Before Ridge could think of a rebuttal, they were gone. He stared at Brooke stunned. He had caused that.

With tears rolling down her cheeks, she didn't know what to say. What could she say? Her children were hurt, scarred. And now she wondered if having Ridge around Justin would cause her baby boy to travel down the same road his older siblings had.


	9. Chapter 9

"Ridge, good morning," Thorne greeted, surprised beyond belief to see his brother on his doorstep. He couldn't remember the last time his brother had visited him. He wondered what he wanted. "Please come in." Opening the door wider, he allowed Ridge into his home.

"Good morning. I have something very important I want to talk to you about," Ridge responded to the unasked question as he took a seat on the sofa.

* * *

Brooke looked at her watch again. Where was Ridge? This wasn't the way to make any headway in being a good father to Justin.

"Mom," Justin called out, getting out of the pool.

"Yes?"

"When is he coming back?"

Lowering herself to his level, she looked her youngest son in the eyes. "I don't know. But you can call him Dad or Ridge or whatever you're most comfortable with. He'll understand."

"I know, but- -"

"Just call him Dad," Thomas said, walking up behind Justin. "You said you wanted a dad and now you've got one."

"But won't you be- - you know?"

"What? Jealous?"

Justin nodded.

"Nah. I've wanted a brother for the longest time and when I was younger, I used to pretend Ric was my older brother. And now I've got one of my very own. It can be us against the twins," Thomas replied, nonchalantly.

"Cool," Justin responded, as the two walked back to the pool.

Brooke smiled. Sometimes life could be so easy. She had been worried about how Thomas, Phoebe, and Stephanie would accept Justin, but it seemed to be needless at least for now. The twins adored him. And Thomas had found a new best friend. She prayed the rest of the family would be as open as the kids, but somehow she doubted that. But she wouldn't focus on the negative or the unknown, she would focus on the positive and the positive was that all of Justin's siblings whole heartedly accepted him.

Now if she could just figure out where Ridge ran off to. Maybe once he took the kids back to Taylor's and Justin and Hope were sleep, they could have the conversation she had avoided last night. And now she could add Ric's and Bridget's attitudes this morning to the list of topics. Why had she ever thought the real difficult part of motherhood ended when the kids turned eighteen? It seemed harder being a mother to an adult than it ever was to a toddler or stubborn teenager.

"Finished in the pool already," Ridge whispered in her ear.

She jumped, startled. "Where have you been?"

"Hi, Daddy," Phoebe screamed.

"Hey, baby," he greeted and waved to the other kids in the pool.

"Ridge, where have you been for the last few hours? You missed lunch. The kids have been asking for you."

"I was taking care of some business. Kids, get out the pool, grab a towel, and follow me. I have something to show you," Ridge announced.

"Ridge, what is going on?" she demanded. But he ignored her and assisted the twins getting out of the pool. She was getting really sick of his ignoring her questions. Maybe he was becoming hard of hearing in his old age.

With no other option, she followed him and the kids out of the backyard. They cut across the front yard and squeezed through the hedges separating her house from her neighbors. She was about to say something, but decided against it. He wasn't going to reveal anything until he was good and

ready. Had he always been this stubborn and infuriating?

Ridge stopped in the middle of her neighbor's driveway. "This is our new home."

"Really, Dad?" Thomas asked.

"Really."

"Cool."

Brooke's mouth dropped open.

"Can we go in?" Justin questioned.

"Not yet, son. But by tonight, we can."

"Daddy, does this mean you're not going to live with us anymore?" Phoebe asked.

Squatting to get down to his daughters' height, he kissed them both. "Remember how Mommy and I talked to you about us no longer being married but that we will always remain a family?"

The twins nodded.

"And remember how we told you that meant you wouldn't live with Daddy full-time?"

They nodded again.

"Well, this is where we'll be staying when you live with Daddy," Ridge informed them quietly calming their fears.

"When are we going home, Daddy?" Stephanie asked.

His heart broke a little as did Brooke's at hearing those words. "As soon as we go back to Brooke's and change clothes."

"Yipee!" the twins yelled and jumped up and down.

As they headed back to her yard, she saw her opportunity and pounced. "How did you get that place? It's not even on the market. The Steens have lived there for years."

"They did live there for years. Now it's just a second home that's too big for them since their kids are grown. Their Palms Spring residence is now their primary one and they'll buy a condo on the beach for when they want to come to LA."

"But they loved that house," she declared.

Ridge shrugged his shoulders. "Well not as much as they loved what I offered them for it."

"You bribed them?"

"No, I just made them an offer they couldn't refuse," he answered in the worst _Godfather_ impression she had heard.

"But next door to me. Your mother and Taylor are going to love that."

Ridge paused as he watched the kids filter into the house. "I don't care what they like or don't like. I almost brought up my breakfast this morning as the boy I helped raised didn't have one positive thing to say to me and neither did his sister by her lack of interjections. I have a nearly twelve-year-old son I just discovered yesterday. I have twin daughters who consider home a place where I no longer live. And I have another son on the verge of being a teenager who doesn't tell me one thing he's feeling or thinking. So it has been brought to my attention that I'm a crappy father. And by using the word crappy, I'm being nice to myself. I always wanted to be as good of dad to my kids as Dad was to me, but I've failed. I've failed miserably. But starting today, I'm beginning anew. I bought this house, not because of what anyone, including yourself, would think, but because I wanted to see at least one of my children every day. I'm taking a leave of absence from all my job duties beyond designing so I can concentrate on being a father. Or learn how to become one. I refuse to let my other children have the bitterness that Ric and Bridget have. I don't want to repeat the mistakes of my mother. Love one child, but ignore the others."

Brooke's eyebrow rose.

"Yes, I know. I noticed. But what could I do? But that's changing now too. I talked to Thorne and I recommended he take over my duties that Dad or you can't or won't handle."

He had been busy since he left her house earlier today. "I'll talk to Eric and Thorne." She produced one son that he didn't know existed and Ridge turns into a totally different person. Who knew? But like all things Ridge, she'd see if this change remained in the face of his mother and Taylor. When they combined their forces for evil, they could convince Ridge day was night and night was day. But she admired the passion and the conviction of the things he was saying and the changes he was making.

"I'm so angry with you, I could throttle you and it still wouldn't be enough. But as angry as I am, the other part of me wants to fall to the ground crying and begging for forgiveness at your feet and Bridget's, Ric's, and Justin's because I failed you all so terribly. I'm working on those issues, but in the meantime you tell our eldest son and daughter that if they think they are too old for a dad to reprimand them and praise them, then they have another thing coming. Tell them their dad is back and he's kicking butt and taking names to reclaim them- -"

"Dad!" Thomas cried.

"I won't rest until Ric, Bridget, Thomas, Justin, Phoebe, and Stephie all give me father of the year mugs."

"Dad!"

With another cry for dad, Ridge left Brooke standing on her veranda, speechless. Who was that man? And more importantly, how would this affect her children? She was scared.


	10. Chapter 10

Happy Father's Day to all the fathers out there.

"Mommy, Mommy," Stephie cried as she rushed through the front door and threw herself into her mother's arms.

"Hi, sweetie," Taylor said, embracing her.

"Mommy, we had so much fun with Daddy. Hi, Grandma."

"Hi, Stephie," Stephanie replied with a smile.

Phoebe and Thomas offered up their greetings as they trailed behind.

"What did you do?" Taylor asked, interested.

"We went swimming and Brooke made us breakfast and we saw Daddy's new house- -"

"And daddy said we could decorate our room however we want," Phoebe continued.

Stephie nodded her head in agreement.

"Well, it sounds like you had a lot of fun and it smells like it too," Taylor laughed, after pretending to sniff her two young daughters.

"Mommy, we don't smell," Stephie asserted.

"Yep, you do. You smell like pool water."

"Pool water doesn't smell," Phoebe declared.

"Yes, it does. How about you and your sister go take a bath in Mommy's and Dad- - in Mommy's bathroom?"

Stephie's eyes widened. "In your jacu- -"

"zi," Phoebe finished.

Taylor nodded.

"Okay," the girls answered at the exact same moment.

"Katherine is upstairs. Go tell her what I said."

The girls took off, running past their dad.

"I'll come up and say 'good night'," Ridge said to the two racing figures. He thought he heard some murmured responses.

"Mom, Dad, Grandma, I'll be up in my room if you need me," Thomas informed the adults, more than happy to get away from the argument that he knew was coming shortly.

Making sure Thomas was far enough away so as not to hear anything, Ridge walked over to the dining room where his mother and Taylor were sitting. Why wasn't he surprised that his mother was over here? Why hadn't he noticed before? Taylor had no other friends besides his mother. She had acquaintances and business associates, but no real girlfriends. How sad. Not that he was much better; when was the last time he had spent any quality time with his frat brothers or old college roommates? Well, that was changing too.

"How dare that woman who has sle- -"

"Mother, don't start. Yes, Brooke kept Justin's existence a secret from me. But she had good reason."

"My gosh, Ridge. Can't you keep it in your pants for one night? You're already sleeping with her and you just moved out of your home with your wife."

Ridge sighed. Same story, different day. "Taylor and I are divorcing. And for the record, I'm not sleeping with Brooke, but if I was, that would be between her and me, not you, Mother. And this is why she didn't want Justin around us. Do you understand that? She would rather have her son raised by relatives than to be around us. She would sacrifice tucking in my son at night, being there when he wakes up in the morning, taking him to school, in order to keep him away from this madness."

"Ridge- -" his mother frowned.

"I just walked through the door and not once have you asked me anything about my son. What does he look like? What kind of personality does he have? Nothing. You targeted in on Brooke and that's all she wrote. Well, I won't have it anymore- -"

"You won't have it! Do you know who you are talking to? I'm your mother. And I will never stop trying to protect my son and this family from the threat that is that slut Brooke Logan. I will stop at nothing to protect our family name."

"Newsflash, Mother. You are not a Forrester. You married into this family- -"

Stephanie gasped.

"Ridge," Taylor scolded.

"Ridge, what, Taylor? It's the truth, Dr. Hayes. So if anyone wants to quote 'protect' the Forrester name, it should be the people who were born with the last name." He began pacing the floor. "I'm angry and hurt and beyond insulted that a woman I loved and was married to thought I was such a poor father that she had to hide our youngest son from me. You know which women do that? Women whose husbands are abusers. Abusers. Logan put me on par with an abusive father. And you know what? From the reactions of Ric and Bridget, they think the same thing."

"They've been fed lies by their mother. You are a great big brother to both of them," Stephanie retorted.

"Well that's the problem, I'm not a big brother to them. I'm their dad- -"

"Ridge, you are not Ric and Bridget's father. I thought we had dealt with this," Taylor interjected.

"No, you dealt with it. Or rather gloated, along with Mother, that they were no longer in my life, but I just suppressed my feelings and took the easy road. Those kids grew up fatherless and it was my fault. Dad entrusted them to me when I married Brooke and I failed them."

"Your father was an excellent- -"

"Mother, if you let another lie fall from your lips or a negative comment about Brooke flow from your mouth, we won't be speaking until you're ready to apologize to me and whomever else your sword of a tongue hurts."

"Ridge, what is wrong with you? I understand it's a shock to find out about Justin in the manner which you did but this appalling behavior is completely unnecessary," Stephanie reprimanded.

"I'm appalling because I speak the truth. My daughter uttered words about Brooke she didn't even understand because of you and Taylor."

"I know and I'm sorry. I had no idea the children were listening."

"But you're not sorry for what you said?"

"I spoke the truth."

He looked from his mother to his wife and shook his head at their bewildered and concerned looks. They really thought he had lost it. "I'm going to say goodnight to the kids," he said, walking towards the stairs.

"Ridge, we're not finished talking," Stephanie called after him, but he kept on walking. She turned to Taylor. "Look what she's done to my son. The things he said."

"He's in shock Stephanie. First, we thought Justin was a classmate of Thomas' and Zende's, then we discover he was living in our guest house and was actually a runaway and then, thanks to Brooke's ultimate payback to Ridge for not staying with her and helping her raise his brother and sister, we find out that Justin is Ridge's son. It's a lot to deal with and work through."

Stephanie nodded. "You're right. We need to neutralize her. Do you think there's a chance that Justin will go back to living wherever he was living before?"

"Stephanie," Taylor said in outrage. "He's your grandson and do you really think that Ridge would allow that?" Sometimes she was still shocked at the things that came out of her mother-in-law's mouth.

"Well, she obviously didn't want him and you know him and loved having him- -"

Shaking her head, Taylor knew exactly where Stephanie was heading with this. "Ridge and I are finished."

"But you were hoping, were you not?"

"When that word came out of my baby's- -"

"Oh, Taylor, not you, too. It was an accident," Stephanie said in disgust.

"Accident or not that was the end for me. Stephanie, I don't want to live my life hating another person and saying vile things about her that my children can accidentally overhear and repeat. I don't need that in my life. I don't want to live my life like that. And as long as I'm married to Ridge, I will always feel like I'm in competition with Brooke and that she's a threat to my marriage- -"

"You are ten times the woman she is. You had and have nothing to fear from her."

Taylor smiled sadly. "I always feared her because I knew she held Ridge's heart in a way that I never could. Even in our most intimate moments, I knew there was a part of him that I could never reach or touch. I want, I deserve to be with someone who can share all of himself with me."

Where did this child learn such dribble? "Taylor, you're a doctor, you know life and marriage isn't a fairy tale. You have to constantly work at it to keep your marriage alive and healthy. To keep your family together."

"I guess then, I no longer want to work as hard as I have been. I'm done."

"Taylor- -"

"The girls are dying for you to come join them, Taylor," Ridge informed her.

She nodded.

"Taylor, I was wondering if we can amend the custody agreement slightly."

"Sure, whatever you want, Ridge. You know you can see the kids anytime you want."

Ridge nodded. "Thanks. I would like to pick up the kids from school in the afternoons."

Taylor and Stephanie looked at him with puzzled faces.

"I'm taking a leave of absence from all my duties at Forrester except for designing- -"

"You're just going to hand our company over to Brooke and give her more power?" Stephanie demanded.

Ridge laughed bitterly. "You know what, Mother, amazingly enough you have other children that work at Forrester. Your other son, Thorne, and your eldest daughter, Kristen. You do remember them, don't you?"

"Ridge, don't be silly. This is no time for games."

"I'm not playing a game, Mother. I'm being serious. Why has it always been assumed that I would take over Forrester one day? Is it because I'm the oldest? What if I said, I just wanted to design? I didn't want to deal with the business side of things. Did it ever once dawn on you to ask Thorne, Kristen or Felicia if they wanted to run Forrester?" Ridge asked, truly interested in the answer.

"Ridge," Stephanie said, rolling her eyes. "You are your father's son. The oldest always takes over, it's in the blood- -"

"But it's not in anyone else's?"

"What are you going to do with all this free time?" Stephanie huffed.

"A stay-at-home dad who works from home," he answered.

Stephanie laughed while Taylor looked amazed. "A stay-at-home dad? Have you lost your mind? You have a company to help run."

"Mother, if that company bankrupted tomorrow all we'd have is each other and Justin coming home made me realize that I wouldn't even have my kids."

"Ri- -"

"Mother, enough. I'm done talking about this. I just want to have dinner with my youngest son and then go to my new home and climb into my new bed. Taylor, Mother, goodnight."

And before either could say another word, Ridge was gone.


	11. Chapter 11

Sorry this is so late. I was having some computer difficulties.

"I'm confused. Who is this man living next door to me?" Brooke cried.

"Wait, Ridge was outside shirtless, cutting down hedges?" Dr. Simone Hardy – Davis asked.

"Simone, focus."

"I am. Focusing on Ridge, shirtless," the tall and slender black woman replied.

"You're married, remember, to a tall, good-looking attorney by the name of Connor," she reminded her friend.

"I know and I'm very happy, but I'm not dead and that man has a nice body," Simone smiled. "But you're right enough about his physique." What are you worried about exactly? That he isn't being sincere in wanting a relationship with Justin?"

"No, I think he is. Maybe I'm just nervous, the last time I've seen him this involved with kids is when Ric and Bridget were young- -"

"You think he's going to disappear from Justin's life?"

"I don't know. I just don't want my son to get hurt. And now Ridge is showing up at Bridget and Ric's every other day for at least a half-hour."

"Doing what?" Simone asked curious.

"Nothing, according to them. He told them he just wanted them to know he's there if they want to talk or if they just want to be quiet." Brooke paused. "Do you think he could be on drugs?"

Simone laughed. "You know he's not. I think it's kind of sweet. He's trying to show Ric and Bridget that he's there for them. I wish Tom would do something like that for Tommy," she sighed. "What do the kids think of all this?"

Picking up her Coke, Brooke took a sip and held the cold glass in her hands as she contemplated her answer. "Justin is over the moon and so is Hope- -"

"Hope?"

Brooke nodded. "Ridge includes her. When he and Justin come back from baseball practice, they come over here, pick her up and go to Ridge's and have dinner once a week by themselves and once a week with Thomas, Phoebe, and Stephanie. And, of course, Ric and Bridget have an open invitation. I don't know, maybe I'm waiting for the other shoe to drop. After all, this is Ridge."

"Or maybe you feel unsettled because you and Ridge haven't had a knock down, drag 'em fight over the fact that you were silent about Justin- -"

Brooke began to interject, but her old college roommate stopped her.

"Eh, you were silent about Justin for all these years. You should go over there and bring it up."

"But I don't want to rock the boat. I don't want to be responsible for Justin or Hope getting hurt the way Ric and Bridget were because of my actions."

Simone left her seat and sat on the edge of the table in front of Brooke. Putting down the drink and taking her friend's hands, she lifted Brooke's head. "If your bringing out this festering issue between you and Ridge into the open ruins or stops the relationships with the kids, then it was never real to begin with and better everyone knows it now than you spending the rest of your life walking on eggshells around Ridge and his feelings. Ridge has gotten that treatment his whole life."

"Ouch! Saying harsh words about your buddy?"

"I'm just speaking the truth. He's still my buddy."

"Who you let cheat off of you in all your math and science classes."

Simone shrugged. "What can I say, he was an artist, not a mathematician. Besides, who do you think got me through art class?"

Brooke laughed. "The doctor cheated?"

"Who said anything about cheating? I drew what my professor asked me to, and I can't help if I took a nap or went to work on something else and Ridge decided to help reorganize my drawings."

"You're right about Ridge. I should talk to him. I will- -"

"When? I meant in this lifetime."

"Yes, Miss Smarty Pants."

"That's not a when," Simone reminded her.

Picking up pillow and aiming for her best friend's head, she yelled. "Okay, tomorrow. Now let's talk about something fun. Like when we can find out if this baby is a boy or a girl."

"Ugh! Not you, too. I get this from Connor and Tommy all the time."

Brooke and Simone laughed. Today she would enjoy her friend and tomorrow she would tackle Ridge's and her children's future.


	12. Chapter 12

"Okay, Zende, you look for any books written about the Forresters. There's gotta be some because they always write books about rich people and rich families. Thomas, you check all the newspapers. Tommy, you check the magazines. And I'll check the 'net," Justin said, issuing orders to his brother, cousin, and classmate.

"Are you sure we should be doing this?" Zende questioned.

Justin stared at his cousin and then pinned his brother with the same look. "Don't you want to know the truth? There's something they're hiding from us. Thomas, don't you want to know why our Grandmother doesn't like my mom, but likes yours? Or why, like you said, Zende, that people get freaked out when you mention my mom's name with dad's?"

The boys nodded reluctantly.

"Then in the words of Ace Ventura, 'awrighty then.' Let's get started- -"

"Wait. I think we should find our information, do our homework, then read everything we found because if my dad comes and we haven't finished our homework, we'll be busted," Zende informed Justin and Thomas.

"Zende's right and you don't want to see Uncle upset," Thomas confirmed.

"Okay," Justin nodded, "we'll follow Z's plan. Let's get busy."

The boys separated with each going to his own computer work station in the library to began his research.

* * *

"Stephanie, I so don't have time for this," Brooke said, walking back to her desk with her arms full of documents. "As you can see, I have tons of work to do, and I have to squeeze in two meetings before I can go home."

"Well, you're going to have to make time for this," Stephanie informed her as she closed Brooke's door.

Placing her papers back on her desk, Brooke fell back into her chair and waited for her ex-mother-in-law's tirade to begin. No, she wasn't going to do this. Not this time. Sitting up straight, she threw out her counterattack before the attack officially commenced. "Yes, Stephanie, I know. I'm a whore, a ho, a home wrecker, a tramp, a hobag. I hid Justin's birth to get back at Ridge for leaving me for the far superior and heavenly Taylor. I orchestrated Justin's runaway escapade so he could meet Ridge and put the final nail in the coffin of the marriage of Taylor and Ridge, all in the hopes that Ridge will marry me because he feels so guilty on missing so much of Justin's life. Maybe I'm such a whore I don't know who Justin's father is which is the reason I never told Ridge about him in the first place. Have I missed anything?"

The older woman was taken aback and was working hard to not let it show. Brooke had never acted this way before. She was usually at this point trying hard to explain herself and show herself in the best light. Who was this woman before her? What happened to Brooke and Ridge? Did they both get hit over the head at the same time? Something had to be behind their sudden new attitudes. They weren't supposed to stand up to her; they were supposed to cower in her presence. But there was no cowering going on here. "I will be watching you. I will make sure you don't worm your way back into my family. Don't think your son is the ticket to becoming a Forrester again- -"

"Stephanie, if I wanted your son, Ridge, there's absolutely nothing you could do to stop me. I can do whatever I want, marry him again, and only allow people to address me as Mrs. Ridge Forrester."

Stephanie gasped.

"And unlike Ric and Bridget, I will not allow Justin or Hope to accidentally overhear your acidic comments about me. For them to be torn between the two of us. If I get a whiff, if I think you're dreaming evil things about me, I will have Connor get a restraining order against you that will state the closest you could get to your old office is the basement mailroom. Justin will not have the same issues his older siblings have."

"Are you threatening me? Threatening to bar me from the company I helped build?"

Brooke stood and walked around her desk. "I don't make threats. I make promises. And that's a 14 karat gold one." She opened her office door. "I'm done groveling at your feet for approval or acceptance. Hate me, like me, I don't care. But know this, if you hurt one of my children, I will make burning in hell for eternity seem like a vacation to you. Now get out," she commanded.

"You can't- -"

Walking over to Stephanie, Brooke forcibly gave the woman pushes to get her out of her office. As soon as Stephanie was over the threshold and before she could utter another word, Brooke slammed the door and locked it.

She leaned against the door and exhaled. Then overcome with joy for truly standing up to Stephanie for the first time and truly meaning that she didn't care if she and the older woman ever had any sort of a relationship, Brooke danced the Snoopy dance. She had to share this joy with someone else. Dancing her way back to her desk, she quickly speed dialed and conferenced her girls. "Donna, Simone, Katie, you'll never guess what I just did."

* * *

"Let me get this straight. Your mom was married to my dad twice. And the second time, my mom having me seems to have broken up Dad's marriage to your mom," Thomas questioned.

Zende shrugged.

"So it would seem," Justin answered.

"I think we should all check at home, too. We might find more information from papers our parents have lying around the house," Tommy Hardy–Davis, Connor's biracial adopted step-son, commented.

Justin nodded. "We should all look around over the next few days."

"This sucks big time," Thomas said. "Are you bothered that your mom was married to Grandpa, Dad, and Uncle Thorne?"

Justin shrugged.

"Who cares as long as she loved them and they married her happily. In my country, I was taught to seize every moment because you didn't know what tomorrow held or if you would even live to see tomorrow. In the orphanage, a lot of my friends never did; but when they were alive, they lived life to the fullest," Zende commented.

The four pre-teen boys sat in silence and contemplated all they had learned.


	13. Chapter 13

Hola. Here's a little 4th of July treat! I hope you all have a safe, fun, and happy 4th...

* * *

"Good evening, Taylor," Brooke said graciously, ushering her former rival into her home.

"Good evening," Taylor responded.

"You're the first one here," Brooke informed her as she led them to the living room.

"Where are the kids?"

"Next door with Ridge. They should be here any minute."

"Would you like anything to drink?"

Taylor shook her head. "No, I'll wait until dinner," the doctor paused, "Brooke- -"

"Taylor, you don't have to say anything."

"Yes, I do. Thank you for inviting me to this family dinner- -"

"You are family."

Taylor raised her eyebrow.

"You are," Brooke insisted. "Forever we are tied together through our kids. We are the mothers of Ridge's children. We will see each other at holidays, special occasions, and school events. I want to bury the hatchet. I'm sorry for everything that I've done to you, the problems I caused in your marriage. I should have respected your vows and I didn't."

Taylor hadn't known what to expect of this evening. She had been completely caught off guard when Brooke had called her and invited her to dinner. She had known the dinner was to officially introduce Justin to the rest of the family and wondered why Brooke was including her. If she had still been married to Ridge, she would have instantly become paranoid and wondered what Brooke was up to. And if she was truthful, she still had her guard up. After spending a large amount of her adult years being wary of Brooke and her gestures, those feelings didn't die over night even if she was over Ridge. But Brooke wasn't the only who was owed an apology. She was going to try something with Brooke that she had never really done before, she was going to be completely honest with Brooke and herself.

"Thank you for those words. Part of me is overjoyed to hear them. Part of me hates that it took me divorcing Ridge for you to say them to me. And another part of me knows I don't deserve them."

"Taylor, how can you say that? I chased after Ridge while you were married to him."

Taylor nodded. "I know. But for the first time ever I'm going to tell you something that I've never said out loud to anyone, including myself. My mom used to tell me that I loved challenges, the harder the better, and I was always like that. But when I told her I wanted to be a psychiatrist, she cautioned me. She told me that there would be some challenges I couldn't conquer and if I wasn't careful, I could get badly hurt. I ignored her sage advice. In my arrogance, I thought there wasn't anything I couldn't overcome." Taylor paused and took a breath. This was harder than she expected. "When I first met Ridge, I couldn't help but notice how attractive he was. And when he started showing interest in me, I was scared. I had heard about his playboy past. I was flattered; I never thought a rich, talented, handsome man would ever give me the time of day. And I was also intrigued because I could feel like he wasn't 100 there with me. I knew there was something missing and I unconsciously vowed to fill that space, to get all of his attention. And when I found that missing piece was you, I was that much more determined to make our marriage work. I knew you were his one. I knew it, but I made myself not care. I cynically didn't believe a love that strong could exist. And this need of mine to conquer the challenge that was having all of Ridge caused me to hurt Ridge, you, your kids, my kids, and myself- -"

"Taylor, it wasn't all your fault," Brooke told her, touched that Taylor would share such thoughts with her.

"Oh, I know that," Taylor laughed bitterly. "We all caused this - - this, whatever you want to call it to get so out of hand, with Stephanie there stoking the fires."

Wow. That was the only word that was running through her head. When she invited Taylor to dinner, she never thought it would lead to such revelations. She had just wanted to apologize and show Taylor that she respected her position in the family. With all the apologies flying around, maybe just maybe, there was hope for some type of friendship one day between the two of them. Friendship in the future, of course. Right now everything was still too raw and she still hadn't dealt with Ridge yet.

"So I said all of that to say, 'I'm sorry.'" Taylor continued.

"I- -"

"Please don't tell me it's not necessary. Please just accept it graciously."

Seeing the need for acceptance, she cordially replied, "Thank you."

"Mom, is everyone here?" Justin called out, looking for his mother and interrupting the moment between the two ex-rivals.

Taylor quickly wiped the tears from her eyes and stood.

"Taylor is here, honey. I'm sure everyone else will be here shortly," Brooke assured her son. Seconds later the doorbell rang. "See."

Taylor and Justin exchanged pleasantries as she went to answer the front door.

"Thorne, Macy, good evening. Please come in," she greeted her ex-husband and his wife.

"Good evening," they said in unison, as Macy tightened her clutch on Thorne's arm.

Brooke wanted to laugh, but she couldn't. She had helped contribute to Macy's insecurity. "Taylor is in the living room."

Macy quickly led her husband to the other room before he had a chance to say anything to Brooke.

Before she could close the door, Ridge, the twins, Felicia, Thomas, Zende, Kristen, and Tony walked in. As they all greeted each other, Stephanie and Eric walked in.

Stephanie opened her mouth to speak, but after a warning glare from Brooke, Stephanie exchanged pleasantries with everyone but Brooke, as Ridge escorted everyone to the dining room.

* * *

Conversation was lively and Ridge's bbq was delicious, but the main topic of discussion was tactfully avoided for most of the evening.

Using a wet wipe generously offered by her hostess, Felicia wiped her hands and placed the wipe on her plate. She looked around the table, waited for an opening in the conversation, and magically it happened. "So is anyone going to tell me how is it that I'm sitting across from my nephew, who is a clone of Brooke and Ridge?"

All talking came to an abrupt halt.

"Felicia," Stephanie reprimanded her youngest.

"Oh, mother, please," Felicia said, rolling her eyes. Turning to her nephew, she smiled. "Welcome to the family. I'm your Aunt Felicia. The blonde to your right is your Aunt Kristen and next to her is Uncle Tony. The blonde next to me is your Uncle Thorne and Macy- -"

"Felicia," Eric warned.

Grinning, Felicia looked at Macy and gave her an insincere apology. "Your Aunt Macy. And the two old people are Grandma and Grandpa."

"I'll show you old, young lady," Eric threatened.

"I'm sorry. The more mature people at the table are your Grandma and Grandpa. So where have you been hiding for the past what, twelve years?"

"Eleven and three-quarters," Justin corrected his new aunt. This was great; now besides Aunt Katie and Aunt Donna, he had an Aunt Felicia, who seemed way cool, and an Aunt Kristen. Plus he had two new uncles. He was glad he was finally home with his mom.

"Yeah, Mom, tell everyone why Justin's been hiding," Thomas said snidely.

Everyone looked at him strangely. This wasn't Thomas usual behavior.

"What are you talking about, Thomas?" Taylor asked perplexed.

"Sure," Thomas snorted. "Play dumb."

"Thomas," Ridge and Taylor reprimanded him at the same time.

"What is wrong with you, young man?" Stephanie demanded. "We do not speak this way to our elders."

Thomas rolled his eyes at his grandma.

"That's enough, Thomas," Ridge commanded.

"Chill, Thomas. It's not worth it," Justin said to his older brother, trying to secretly communicate something to him.

Brooke caught the exchange between the two boys. Something was going on.

"I'm not sitting here with liars," Thomas informed his family and got up from the table.

"Thomas," Ridge said, raising his voice.

Brooke continued to read her son's face and knew whatever was causing Thomas' attitude change was not good.

"Excuse us," Taylor apologized to the family, leaving the table along with her ex to follow their son.

Walking towards Brooke's family room, Ridge paused. "Justin, Zende, Brooke, can you please join us?"

Justin and Zende quickly sent silent messages to each other as they slowly excused themselves from the table. Brooke followed, although she didn't want to get involved, but she knew she must because obviously her son and it seemed Zende, were involved. She wondered if Tommy, the missing fourth party, was privy to whatever was going on.

"Why is Brooke involved? It's not even her kid," Macy said loud enough for everyone at the table to hear.

"Macy, please," Thorne asked.

"What? She's always sticking her nose in Ridge's business," Macy continued.

Stephanie silently agreed with her daughter-in-law. She knew she liked Macy for a reason. She was one smart cookie. Thank goodness she had the sense and presence of mind to forgive Thorne for his indiscretion with Brooke.

"Macy, shut up," Felicia said.

* * *

"What's going on?" Ridge demanded, staring down at his sons and nephew.

Zende had a sudden fascination with the floor. Justin looked at him head on, reminding him so much of Brooke and Ric. Thomas stared at him defiantly. What was really going on? Thomas had never been like this. He had been acting strange for the past few weeks, but he had chalked it up to the onset of puberty. But it was obvious now, it was something deeper. And the other two stooges knew what was going on.

"Anyone going to answer my question?" Ridge asked.

"Thomas, have I done something to upset you?" Taylor probed gently.

The eldest of the boys grunted.

Observing the group, Brooke noticed that Zende was the weakest link. She hated to do this to him, but if they wanted to get to the bottom of this, he was the key.

"Zende?" she said softly.

He looked up and at her. "Yes, ma'am."

"Do you know anything about what's going on? Justin don't you dare say anything."

"I- -" Zende began.

"Thomas, don't you dare look at him," Brooke warned. "You what? What did you guys do?"

"Brooke, we don't know that they did- -" Taylor started.

"We- - we- -" Zende stuttered.

Justin decided to step up and help his cousin out; after all they had done this to help him. He hadn't meant for it to cause problems between Thomas and his mom. "We found out that you and dad had been married twice and that Miss Taylor coming back made your marriage to dad illegal."

Well that hadn't been the answer she had been expecting. The kids had decided to look into her background. She knew it would happen again one day, but she had hoped she could put off for a few years Justin finding out about her past history with Ridge and the Forresters.

"And we found out that you were married to Grandpa," Justin continued.

Brooke nodded. "How did you get all this information?"

"The library," Zende answered.

Brooke had to work hard not to smile. Her past laid bare at the library.

Ridge listened to the exchanges between Brooke and the boys and while this shed some light on what was going on; it didn't explain why Thomas was acting hostile towards Taylor. "Thomas, are you upset that I was married to Brooke before I was married to your mom?"

Thomas shook his head.

"Son, what is it? You can tell us anything," Taylor reminded her son.

Watching Justin and Zende, Brooke knew they knew exactly what Thomas' problem was. "Justin, Zende, if you know what's bothering Thomas, please tell us. We only want to help him."

Justin sighed. He didn't want to rat out his brother, but- -

"Phoebe and Stephie's real dad is James Warwick," Thomas blurted out angrily.

Quickly schooling her features, Brooke hoped she showed no outward signs of shock and disbelief at Thomas' statement.

"Thomas, where would you get an idea like that?" Ridge asked.

"From mom's diaries and confirmed with papers at Mr. Davis'," Thomas informed his parents.

She knew that Tommy was involved. The four had become inseparable since Justin had come to town. How was she going to explain this to Simone and Connor? She also noticed that Taylor was being quiet. Could this possibly be true?

"How dare you violate your mother's privacy or ask Tommy to violate Connor's," Ridge reprimanded his son.

"Ridge," Taylor said softly.

But he didn't hear her. "I am ashamed of all four of you. And don't worry, I will talk to Tommy and his parents too."

"Sure yell at me, but she's the one who lied," Thomas cried. Pointing at his mother, he continued, "I heard all those things you and Grandma said about Brooke and the names you called her, but at least she actually thought Bridget was dad's daughter. She had a test done right away. You knew the twins weren't dad's and you said nothing. You're a hypocrite! You even had Dr. Warrick in our house."

Ridge grabbed Thomas forcibly. "Young man, that's ENOUGH!"

"Ridge. Ridge!" Taylor shouted to get her ex's attention.

Ridge turned to face her.

"Let him go."

"What? Why? He has no right to talk to you like this. To spread those lies- -" he paused and caught Brooke's eyes. No. No. This couldn't be happening again. Not again.

"Zende, Justin, Thomas, let's go. We'll finish this discussion later," Brooke commanded and quickly herded the three out of the room.

"Taylor, please tell me Thomas is lying. Tell me it's not true."

With tears in her eyes, Taylor shook her head. "They're not lying, it's true." Before Ridge could say anything and before she could lose her nerve, she began her tale. "It was just one night We'd had had a fight about Brooke I went over to James' We were talking, starting drinking. You know how amorous I get when I drink, James was drunk, one thing led to another. I woke up the next morning with a horrible hangover, adjusted my clothes, and came home. James never woke up. When I found out I was pregnant, I briefly considered James could be the father but we had been trying for so long that I didn't think that one drunk night- -"

"Did you skip biology class! It only takes one time, Taylor," Ridge bellowed. He couldn't believe this. He hoped she was almost finished because he had to get away from her. He couldn't stand being in the same room with her. This woman who had looked down on Brooke, held her in contempt when all the while she was withholding this major secret from him. She saw how devastated he was about Bridget, how could she have ever done something like this to him?

"I know," she cried, "I know. I guess, I was hoping and praying it wasn't true. And then when I looked at the girls, they had our dark hair- -"

"James has dark hair, too."

"And Stephie reminded you of your mother and I saw traces of Eric and my dad in Phoebe and I pushed my doubts away."

"Why did you have the test done, if you were so sure?"

She took a deep breath and continued. "Mary."

"Mary? James and Shelia's daughter?" Ridge asked bewildered.

She nodded. "When James took her into his custody, I went to see him, to see if I could be of any help and as I watched Mary and him interact- - their gestures, their movements were identical to Stephie's. Before Mary reveled herself, I saw her and would think she's an adult version of Phoebe. So I had them tested- -"

"And?"

"99.99 that Stephie and Phoebe were James' daughters. I was stunned. And after everything you had been through with Bridget, I didn't know what to do, where to turn. It's not like I could talk to your mother about it."

"So you turned to Connor?" His accusation and disbelief was evident in his tone.

"In case anything happened to me, I wanted you, James, and the girls to know the truth. I knew Connor would make sure that happened."

The disgust and hate were dripping from his face. He had lost his princess and now years later, he was losing his angels. He'd had enough.

"Ridge."

He stormed out of the family room and out of the house.


	14. Chapter 14

"Mom, I'm bored," Justin whined, throwing himself on the sofa behind Brooke.

"Well, this will teach you, your brother, your cousin, and your best friend not to snoop into other people's business, especially when you can just ask the person in question," she informed her son in a no nonsense tone.

"I know. I've learned my lesson. But six weeks of punishment?"

"Are you complaining because I could easily make it twelve weeks?"

"No. No. No," Justin answered quickly. "Six is enough." Wow, he almost blew that one. At least he had only two weeks left, poor Tommy got stuck reorganizing the filing system at the clinic where Aunt Simone volunteered. And he was only on the "J"s. Uncle Tony and Aunt Kristen told Zende he couldn't play basketball when the season started, on top of being grounded for seven weeks. He and Thomas got off lucky in comparison. "Mom, can I go over to Dad's?"

Brooke shook her head, never taking her eyes off the document she was reading.

"May I?" he corrected himself.

"Your dad's working, but he'll be over for dinner."

"But Hope is over there."

She put down her document and closed her eyes. How could she even begin to explain this to an almost twelve-year-old? How could she tell him that Ridge enjoyed spending time with Hope because she is the first little girl in his life that he has known from day one wasn't his, unlike with Bridget, Stephie, and Phoebe? How could she explain that he loved that their relationship wasn't being built on a lie or wrong test results? It seemed right now that Ridge's relationship with Hope was probably the most uncomplicated relationship in his life. "I think your dad likes to hear her baby talk and not have to hear his two sons try to con him into letting them watch TV or play video games, when they're not supposed to."

Justin lowered his gaze from his mother.

Ah, she still had the touch.

"Is Dad going to be hurt for a long time because Stephie and Phoebe aren't his daughters like he thought?"

"It's going to take some time, baby." She reached for her son's hand and kissed it. "He has to work through all his feelings and the hurt, then he'll be perkier."

"Aunt Katie, perky?"

"No," Brooke smiled at the thought, "no, your dad could never be as perky as Aunt Katie."

"Good."

"What's your brother doing?"

"Reading his comics."

"Why don't you go pick up a book to pass the time until dinner?"

He pondered his mother's suggestion then disregarded it when he came up with a better one. "Can I play with the chemistry set that you and Budge got me?"

"In the kitchen with the door open and tell me what liquids you're combining before you actually combine them, okay?"

"Yes," he replied, as he ran to his room.

She had to talk to Ridge about their issues, but also for the sake of the kids. She had two boys on the verge of being teenagers who were missing seeing their dad happier.

"Ridge, we need to talk," Brooke informed him as stepped off the veranda.

"Brooke, I'm not in the mood," Ridge replied.

"I know. And I wasn't when you first wanted to talk, but if we keep putting it off it will never happen."

Ridge stopped, turned, took out one of the patio chairs and sat down.

Handing him a lightweight sweater, Brooke sat down next to him. Where to begin? The best place to start, she guessed, was at the beginning. "What do you want to know?"

He sighed. He didn't want to do this. He just wanted to go back to his house, tuck Thomas in, and mope. But he could tell Brooke wasn't going to let this go. "How? Why?"

"How? It wasn't as difficult as I thought. You were avoiding me as was your whole family for one reason or another. And I was avoiding you all, too, so it worked out. I found your dad's pieces that he designed to help camouflage larger hips, butts, stomachs, and the clichéd strategically placed folder, briefcase, table, chair, purse, plant, also helped. And whenever I saw you or Taylor before you saw me, I quickly hid or turned the other way. The weekends, the kids and I spent in San Diego or somewhere in-between."

He stared at her in awe. He tried to remember that time. Had he noticed anything different about her? Noticed that she had avoided him? He was ashamed to admit it, but no. He hadn't noticed a damn thing. His own guilt led him to avoid her like the plague, along with the hurt and longing in her eyes. The first time he saw her after he went back to Taylor, the devastation in her eyes had him running into his office, locking the door, and spending the rest of the day crying. He missed watching, feeling his son grow inside of her. He had lovingly and longingly watched as her body became fuller, ripe as Ric grew inside her. And with Bridget, the same was true. He never wanted Brooke more than when she was pregnant. She had a glow about her, a zeal in her eyes that made him want to toss her on the nearest surface and take her. He had missed, missed it all for the third time. He shook his head. No use crying over spilt milk now. He now understood the how, but he still needed the why. "Why?"

Why? She had asked herself that question, many a times. Particularly when it was Storm's hand she was crushing as another contraction hit her. Why hadn't she told Ridge? Why wasn't he with her, by her side? Then she would instantly see the picture on Ridge's desk of him and Thomas smiling happily together. He was happy with his son, in a family that had no complications. Not like theirs, where his half-siblings were calling him Dad. He deserved his happiness. And she and the kids deserved theirs, free of constantly looking over their shoulders wondering when Stephanie or Taylor was going to attack. So with her brother on one side, her mother on the other, and her sisters at the edge of the hospital bed, she brought Justin into the world without his father's knowledge. "My children were hurt, I was hurt, and I couldn't even begin to bring another child into the hurtful situation Ric, Bridget, and I were in. Justin deserved a life that was as complicated-free as humanly possible."

"I wouldn't have hurt him."

"Like you didn't hurt Budge and Ric."

He lowered his head. They could go tit for tat all night long, but that would get them no where. Exhaling, he asked the one question he truly feared the answer to. "Did you really believe in your heart that Justin was better off never knowing me?" He looked directly into her eyes, waiting and fearing her answer.

"No- -"

"So why did you do this? Why did you keep me from my son?"

"Because I didn't want him to feel second best. I didn't want him wondering why you spent the nights with Taylor and Thomas, but not with him, Ric, Bridget, and me. I didn't want you torn wondering who needed you more. Because I knew that wasn't going to be us. When it came between me and another woman, you always thought I was the stronger of the two and you would leave because you figured I would be okay and would manage without you. I wasn't going to allow my son to suffer like his brother and sister were because his mother had the audacity to be strong and able to take care of herself. Which now that I think about it, is completely egotistical and selfish of you to think Caroline and Taylor couldn't live without you, yet somehow they both had filling lives before you walked into their lives." Brooke stood up and walked away from Ridge. How could being strong deny her the man she had once loved with all her heart? She never understood that.

Ridge pondered Brooke's words and the truth that lay in them that he had never considered. Had he gone back to Caroline and later Taylor because he felt they needed him more and Brooke didn't? He had never thought about it like that before. But it seemed to be his pattern and that was the message that Brooke received. This was odd because he never would have categorized either Caroline or Taylor as weak or needy. He thought of them as strong women, maybe not as strong as Brooke, but definitely strong. Brooke, from their first date, reminded him in some ways of his mother. There was this fierceness about her that scared him, yet intrigued him. There was some aura around them both that said they would be okay, come hell or high water, they would emerge unscathed. He knew that wasn't exactly true, but it was how it seemed. All the years, Brooke put up with his mother's abuse and vicious attacks, she kept her head high and still allowed Ric and Bridget to have a relationship with their step-mother and their father. She was so classy and gracious. Sometimes he had felt unworthy, in awe of her, and scared, like Brooke didn't really need him. Maybe that's why he always found it easier to go with Caroline or Taylor because he was subconsciously waiting for the moment when Brooke didn't need him or found out he was flawed. Before she decided that she didn't want him around her children. "You- -," he started, breaking the growing silence. No, this wasn't about her. It wasn't her fault. This was about him. "I- - I'm no good for you. You could do so much better than me. I've always known that. Storm has always known that and said so."

Did she hear him correctly? Was he serious? She was too good for him. Was this his lame excuse for always leaving her? She turned and stared into his eyes. Oh my- - he was telling the truth. He actually believed he wasn't good enough for her. For her kids. The man with self-confidence up the ying-yang, feared he wasn't enough for her. She shook her head and laughed. Did she even believe this? "How could you- -"

"You were the first normal girl I had ever met. Your family, your life. You were the one of the first girls I had met in a long time that wasn't wearing designer labels or name dropping or discussing the country clubs their families belonged to or where thief families owned homes. You were wholesome and part of a functional family."

"Ridge, my family wasn't perfect- -"

"I know, but compared to mine. The Logans were like the Cleavers. Two parents who loved each other, loved all their kids equally. People whose sole purpose wasn't the all-mighty dollar. It was refreshing. It was humbling."

He had never told her any of this before.

"You were the beautiful, smart woman and I was the guy who oozed cockiness and arrogance and you just blew me away. I knew I was screwed up. I knew my mother's obsessive interest in me wasn't good or healthy nor was the way she for all intents and purposes ignored Kristen, Felicia, and Thorne. Yet, I did nothing about either problems. I took the path of least resistance. You gave 100 of your self and demanded the same in return. And I don't know if I was even capable of giving 100 to you or to anyone. To a certain extent I lived in fear that you would discover I was a fraud and find someone better. But you never did. Through thick and think you stood by me even when I was in the wrong or treated you badly, there you were hurt, but sill giving your all. I think your ability to forgive scared me most of all. I could only compare you to the only other woman that made such a huge impression on my life and while my mother forgave she never forgot and had a way of letting you know she never forgot. It was this cloud that hung over your relationship with her." Ridge took a breath as the memories poured over him. "Our baby died, I went back to Caroline, yet you took me back and loved me and never through it in my face. I was always waiting for the day when you would, mention it casually or snidely. But you never did. Did I even once apologized for not being there to comfort you? Did I apologize for letting us both grief in private separately?" He shook his head, as the tears streamed down his face and hers.

They cried in silence, staring out into the darkness of the night. Both reliving the past and digesting the new information that had gained.


	15. Chapter 15

As he jogged his final stretch, Thorne noticed someone sitting on the stretch of land leading from his house to the ocean. Who would be sitting so close to his home? Was that Ridge? Coming closer, he saw indeed it was his older brother. Two visits in two months, he prayed this didn't mean the world was ending. He and Macy were really trying to make their marriage work. There had even been talk about trying to have a baby. He ran up to Ridge and began his cool down exercises. "Good Morning."

"The twins aren't mine. She named one of the girls after Mother and she wasn't 100 sure that they were mine," Ridge stated, frighteningly calm.

Thorne fell to the sand. The twins weren't Ridge's. What was this, Bridget part two? Poor Ridge, how did he deal with this for the second time?

"She slept with James. She had the man she slept with sitting next to me at our dinner table. I was talking and laughing with him and the joke was on me. I was raising his kids. How he and Taylor must have laughed at that one, huh?"

"Does he even know about the twins?" Thorne finally asked, getting a word in.

Ridge paused and looked over at his brother. "I don't know."

"Didn't Taylor tell you?"

"I walked out as soon as she finished the conception and DNA part of the story."

"If she didn't tell you, then odds are she didn't tell James either."

Ridge nodded. Another duped guy. "Is there something on my forehead that says please lie to me about my children?"

"Which ones are those? The ones you abandon or the ones you choose to acknowledge?" Thorne asked, matter of factly.

He was stunned and cut to pieces by his brother's reference to Ric and Bridget.

"Do you love those little girls?"

"Of course, with all my heart."

"Then do for them what you didn't do for Budge and Ric. You do whatever you have to in order to stay in their lives and be their dad." With those words, Thorne got up and jogged into his house, leaving his brother behind to contemplate.

* * *

"Hopey, come to Sissy," Bridget said, trying to coax her sister away from the TV. 

Tears welled up in Brooke's eyes as she sat on the floor against the sofa and watched her daughters. Each time she saw them together, she choked up. She had prayed that one day Bridget would forgive her and accept Hope and it had happened. Budge was the great big sister she had known she would be.

"Tee, Tee," Hope cried as she toddled to Bridget.

"No, Hopey, I'm Eric's auntie, but I'm your sissy."

"Tee, Tee," Hope repeated, throwing herself into her big sister's arms.

"I love you, Hopey."

Hope kissed her sister.

"Oh, stop with the sappiness," Ric said, throwing popcorn at the two similar looking girls.

"You're just jealous that you're not getting any kisses and hugs. By the way where is Amber?"

"I told her she wasn't invited."

"Eric Forrester, Junior," Brooke said. "How dare you tell her that lie."

"It's not a lie. This is Logan family night and she's not a Logan," Ric replied nonchalantly.

"She's your bet- - other half so that makes her part of this family," Bridget reminded him.

"I don't let her come because you two turn into Taylor when she's over."

"What?" Brooke questioned.

"You guys get overly nice. Trying to overcompensate for the fact that you can't stand her."

"Ric, that's not true- -"

Bridget remained silent.

"Oh, Mom, please. At least, Budge is honest enough not to say anything. The moment you found out I slept with her, your total opinion of her changed."

"Well, she was- -" She stopped herself as the kitchen door swung open. "Eric, did you find Grandma's secret stash?"

Eric grinned, carrying a bag of Oreos in one hand, and dragging the chocolate chip cookies behind him. He dumped the chocolate chips in his dad's lap, tore open the Oreos, took one out, and walked over to Brooke. Placing half the cookie in his mouth, he leaned against Brooke's forehead. Brooke opened her mouth and bit into the other half of the cookie, eating it and ending in a kiss with her grandson.

"Thank you," she smiled.

"I love you, Gran'ma."

"I love you, too, sweetie."

"Ta da," Justin announced, walking out of the kitchen with a platter in his hand. "Quesadilla a la Logan."

"Took you long enough. Budge was starting to look tasty," Ric laughed.

Bridget mockingly growled at him.

After Justin placed his creation on the table, the family dug in.

"Baby, this is great," Brooke complimented.

Justin beamed.

"Yeah, squirt, you did a good job."

Bridget nodded her agreement.

"Thanks. Uncle Colton taught me when Aunt Donna was on bed rest."

"Aunt Donna gave up the family recipe?" Bridget asked astonished.

"Only under extreme duress," he said.

"Sounds like Donna," Brooke commented.

Ric and Bridget agreed and continued eating.

Justin smiled as he watched his siblings, mother, and nephew enjoy his appetizer, which had turned into a meal, with chips and dips and soft drinks. He enjoyed these weekly family gatherings. Budge told him they started because of his arrival and that made him feel special. His arrival into LA caused his family to spend more time together. He only wished sometimes that Thomas, Pheebs, and Stephie could join them also, along with his dad, of course. Then these nights would be perfect.

"I think it's past someone's bedtime," Brooke commented, watching her grandson snore softly.

"I'll take him upstairs," Justin volunteered.

"Thanks, squirt," Ric said.

"Rid, Rid," Hope hollered and ran towards the kitchen.

"What is she- -"

Ridge emerged from the kitchen with Hope on his hip. "Good evening, family."

"Hey, Dad," Justin greeted.

With Brooke shooting dangerous looks at her two eldest, Ric and Bridget mumbled something at Ridge.

"I see, I made it in time for bedtime."

Hope squealed.

"Come on, Son. Let's put these two to bed."

Justin happily followed his father and sister upstairs.

"Mom, does he just drop in whenever he feels like? Does he know this isn't his house?" Ric asked.

"Ric- -" Brooke began.

"Who does he think he is?"

"I think I'm the dad of Logan's children."

Bridget and Ric snorted in unison.

Ridge picked up Hope's favorite sleeping companion, Rabbit. "I'll be back in one second to continue this conversation." He ran back up the stairs.

Pointing towards the stairs, Ric argued. "See Mom, he thinks he rules this house. His name isn't even on the deeds anymore. Or is it?"

"No, his name isn't on the house," Brooke stated. Why was she explaining herself and her life to her son? She was the mother and he was the child. "Ric- -"

"I don't rule this house. But I do come and see my son- - and daughter- -"

"You don't have any daughters in this house," Ric informed his older brother.

"I have two. Just like I have two sons and a grandson in this house right now," Ric responded back.

Bridget's mouth dropped open.

Ric was far from impressed. "Once you might have had two sons and two daughters, but the day you decided to walk out of that door and not look back was the day that family and that life ended for you and us. You've got Thomas and the twins with the perfect Dr. Hayes, the family you wanted, so enjoy it."

"Bridget is that what you think, too?"

Bridget nodded.

Ridge gulped. He wanted to look over at Brooke, but he couldn't. He wouldn't. This wasn't her fight; it was his.

Brooke stole a quick glance at Ridge, but he was focused elsewhere. She wondered how he was going to handle this and how this conversation would effect her children.

"I was taught at a young age that you always righted your wrongs. I don't even know how old I was or when I found out that my dad was in love with a woman named Beth and had to marry my mom because she was pregnant with me. But it stuck in my mind. When Taylor told me about Thomas, I felt my place was with her and Thomas. To ease my conscience, though it did little good, I told myself that you guys had Dad, and Thomas had no one- -"

"That was a total cop out. You know Mom would have welcomed him into our family," Bridget interrupted, finally talking.

"You're right, it was. To be honest, I was hurt that you weren't my Princess anymore, Budge. The baby I helped bring into the world. I was the first person to hold you, the first person who held you," Ridge paused, lost in his memories of that day in Big Bear at the cabin.

Bridget nodded. She couldn't remember how many times she had asked her then daddy to tell her the story of her birth. And each time she asked, Ridge would indulge her and tell her again. She had never forgotten the look on his face and the sound of voice as he recounted the details. She never felt more loved or special.

"I put my pain first. The idea of waking up every day and seeing your face," Ridge said, staring at Bridget, "seeing yours," he turned to face Ric, "it was too much. I couldn't do it. It hurt too much, to know all that I had lost. Or rather, what I thought I had lost."

"And what? We were floating on cloud nine that you allowed Dad to step up to the plate and act like a real dad? Because in case you didn't notice, he never did. Bridget and I grew up fatherless once you left."

"I know I did." Tears flowed down his cheeks. "I'm so sorry and I know that isn't enough or makes up for all the years we've lost- -"

"Years we've lost! What? You think you give your woe is me story and we're supposed to embrace you, say all is forgiven, and start calling you dad like Justin?" Ric asked in disbelief.

"No, I don't expect that. I would love for that to happen one day. I just wanted you to hear my side- -"

"Your side is that you chose your biological son over your adopted kids as soon as you found out Budge wasn't yours. Oh wait, I'm sorry. It was because Mom knew about Thomas."

"No, I thought being with a boy who would be fatherless was- -"

"So it was okay for Budge and me to have weekend visits with Dad, but Thomas was too good for such a life."

"That's not what I'm trying to say- -"

"No, but that's what your actions say. When I found out that Eric was coming, when I held him in my arms, I remembered you telling me about Budge's birth story, and I wondered how you could set aside those feelings. When I had to hand my son over to Becky, I thought I was going to die. Die, Ridge! And at that moment, I realized I could never love anyone more than I loved that little boy regardless of who his mother and father were and that I never hated you more for leaving us. For allowing that crazy shrink wife of yours and your mother convince you that we were better off without you. When I sat in my son's barren room, I recalled every time my mom cried, Budge cried, I cried, while you went on with your new family, with your new life and we were like treated yesterday's garbage and my hate grew. I've never hated anyone before but I hate you. I hate how you worm your way back into my mom's life so easily. With some meaningless apologies and promises, she opens her heart to you and I can see Budge weakening too, and you'll break their hearts as soon as Stephanie crooks her finger. And damn it, I see it happening all over again right before my eyes. You're using your relationship with Justin, whom I had wished you had never found out about, to work your way back into her life. And now, you're using Hope- -"

"My children are not pawns or toys. I'm not using them to do anything. I'm trying to build a relationship with my son and a little girl who has stolen my heart. End of story- -"

"Yeah, yeah, sell it to someone who hasn't been there before with you. As soon as Taylor comes a callin', you'll ditch them like you ditched us. But don't worry I'll be there to pick up the pieces like always. I'll be the man my brother and sister can look up to because there's no one else in this family that they could look up to. I thank God everyday the Logan blood runs through my veins because without it, I'd be like you, Dad, and Thorne - weak men easily controlled and led by the women in their lives. You all disgust me. Mom and Budge might buy your- - whatever it is you're trying to do here, but not me. So stop with the calls and dropping by my office like you care because you don't. I'm not that little boy anymore who felt all was right in the world when he saw his mom and dad in the stands at his football games. That boy grew up when you left and learned that men leave and don't look back and I vowed never to be that man," Ric spat, then quickly exited the living room and up the stairs.

Bridget crawled across the floor and threw herself in her mother's arms and cried. Cried for her brother's pain and her own and for the man, she still in heart thought of as dad, who was trying to reach out to them, something she never imagined he would do.

Brooke held her daughter, gently rocked her. She looked up at her devastated best friend. She saw the pain radiating from his eyes. Tonight, he felt the full brunt of Ric's pain; and even though he thought he had been ready, how could one ever prepare himself enough to hear your son say he hates you? She opened her arms and felt Ridge fall into her arms, wrapping himself around her and Bridget as they all sobbed for the family they had all lost.


	16. Chapter 16

"So I think the therapy with Dr. Collins seems to be working," Ridge commented casually, as he slowed his pace to match Brooke's, as they walked behind the kids at Disneyland.

Brooke nodded. Dr. Kevin Collins, another ex-Port Charlesian that Simone had recommended, had been a godsend. He was helping them all heal all the hurt built up over the years. Even if at times it was painful, particularly when Bridget starting joining the sessions and admitted how hard it was growing up and watching her mom be hurt by various men over the years. And that her overprotection of Budge and Ric had in some ways made them both all the more riper for Deacon and Amber to swoop in and take advantage of their innocence. "Thomas does seem better, but I'm worried about Justin."

"Because he's not acting out over the fact that he's missed his early years with us?" Ridge asked, adjusting Hope's stroller's umbrella.

"Yes," she answered. "I'm waiting for this honeymoon period to end."

"It's been a few months. I think the honeymoon period has ended. Maybe you just have to face facts that our youngest son is just like you, an eternal optimist."

"Even with that being true- -"

"Mom, Da- - we're going on this ride, okay?" Bridget shouted as she ushered Phoebe and Stephie into the line, followed by Thomas, Justin, Zende, and Tommy.

"Did she just?" Ridge questioned, as he and Brooke found the nearest bench to wait for the kids to get through the line and the ride.

Brooke nodded. It seemed she had underestimated just how much good the therapy was doing Bridget and how much her daughter had missed Ridge and having a dad in her life.

Ridge smiled. "If only Ric- -"

"Were as forgiving as Budge?"

He nodded.

Laughing, she shook her head. "You know Ric is the most stubborn child ever. How could you forget that?"

"I didn't forget. I had hope that maybe as an adult and a father, he might have loosened up."

"Only in your dreams. The pain that he's suffered over the years has only made him more stubborn."

A cloud of pain appeared on Ridge's face.

"I didn't say it to hurt you," she apologized, patting his hand.

"I know. It's still hard to see and have reminders of the pain I caused," he explained.

"Have you talked to Taylor?"

He shook his head. "Other than what concerns the kids, no."

"Why? You have to forgive her. You forgave me."

"After you explained and opened my eyes, there was nothing to truly forgive you for. How can I be upset that you sacrificed raising our son in order to protect him? I'm upset at all the years we missed- -," he shrugged his shoulders, "but Taylor. She lived with my pain of finding out Bridget wasn't my biological daughter, yet she still went ahead and never once mentioned that the twins might be James'."

"Maybe she was afraid for that reason. Take it from me, I know what it's like to keep a secret for fear it could destroy the life you love so much and dearly. Plus, even I thought the twins looked like Forresters. I still do. The way Pheebs tilts her head when she's concentrating is the same way you do when your designing. And Stephie's cockiness is pure Ridge Forrester," she smiled gently.

Sighing, he watched his daughters move a few steps closer to the front of the line. "Okay, I could maybe understand that, but when she had the tests done. She could have told me then."

"After all the years she kept the secret? How was she going to tell you then? And you have to remember she honestly thought the girls were your biological daughters so she had to be in shock when she got the results. Who could she turn to?"

"Who did you turn to when you found out you hadn't lost Justin?"

"Katie, Donna, Storm, my mom, my dad, Simone, So- -"

Ridge groaned. "Please don't mention that name."

"Fine and don't worry the feeling is mutual. But I'm different from Taylor, I know I don't always act like it but I have a family and friends outside of the Forresters. Taylor was reared in a family of men, entered into a profession dominated by men, and her best friend/mother figure is her mother-in-law. She had no one to turn to."

He stared at her in awe. How could she be so understanding? So forgiving? Taylor would have never have made a case for Brooke if the situation was reversed. But he wouldn't say that to her, especially now that she and Taylor had found some middle ground to make the children's adjustment to all the changes in their lives go as smooth as possible. What had she ever seen in him? What about him made her love him? "What first attracted you to me?"

She immediately noticed his change of subjects, but decided not to press it. She had laid more inroads to his talking to Taylor about the twin's paternity. There was nothing more she could do for now. So she would allow this diversionary tactic. "You mean besides the money?"

Thrwoing his head back, Ridge laughed harder than he had in a really long time. He laughed so hard tears rolled down his face. Brooke Logan, money hungry gold-digger, it was the funniest image he ever tried to imagine. "Yeah, besides the money."

She smirked. "And besides the gorgeous looks?"

"Give me that look again and I'll have Budge out of that line watching little Eric and Hope and have you against the nearest wall so fast your head will spin."

Brooke giggled and lowered her eyes. "Curiosity."

"Curiosity?" That was an interesting answer.

"I never had a guy as good looking as you ever be interested in me before."

"What! I don't believe that. I've seen pictures of you in high school."

"Besides coming out in the spring to play volleyball, the rest of my high school years were spent in the chem. lab. BeLieF's existence just didn't happen overnight. It was being developed for years. Anyway, have you seen my big brother? If anyone looked sideways at me, Storm was there to frighten them off. Katie and Donna don't know how lucky they were that he was off to college by the time they started dating. Our dad was scary enough. Didn't you do the same to Kristen?"

He grinned at the memories of all of Kristen's suitors he was able to scare away. "That's a big brother's job. To protect his little sister."

"Sure it is," she agreed sarcastically. "You were so different than the other guys I had seen hanging around with Storm. Plus, you were the enemy, and I wanted to see what was so bad about you that Storm couldn't stand you and vice versa."

Curiosity brought them together. He hadn't expected that answer. Should he be insulted by that answer? Or just relieved that they came together regardless of the reason. He'd go with the latter.

"What drew you to me?"

"The dynamite figure."

She laughed. "You couldn't see anything under that uniform."

"Oh, honey. A man can see a great figure underneath a shroud. Those pant legs emphasized those long legs." He leered. "And you had this presence. You weren't part of the crowd- -"

"No, I was a working stiff from the Valley."

"Yes, you had the misfortune of being born a Valley girl, but in time I came to overlook that- -"

She shoved him away from her.

"You know it's the truth. But it wasn't that, it was like- - you weren't impressed and star struck like the others in the catering staff. It was just a job to you. You wanted to do your job and go home. No more. No less. It impressed me. All of the women I knew would have balked, whined, complained, and been embarrassed to have to work, much less wear such an ugly outfit. But not you."

Hmmm…. The things you learned. Her earning money for school had caught his eye. Her work ethic put into motion a relationship that had lasted over twenty years. What a strange world they lived in.


	17. Chapter 17

"How are you? And how did it go?" Brooke asked, making herself comfortable in her chair and throwing her Forrester original slacks clad legs onto her desk.

"How did you even know it was me?" Ridge responded.

"Oh, please. Who else could it have been?" she retorted as she remotely locked her office door. Putting the remote control in her desk, she made a mental note to give her head of security a bonus and a raise for suggesting this new lock. It kept all the undesirables out of her office and for that she would be eternally grateful.

"Taylor apologized. I wanted to- -"

"To kill, but you didn't. Instead you forgave her."

"Yeah," he sighed. "I thought about those two little girls and how I felt when I first held them. It was the same way I felt the first time Ric looked to me instead of Dad for approval."

She remembered that day so well. That night she had enjoyed the benefits of Ridge feeling the joys of fatherhood and afterwards they lay next to each other and discussed the joys of parenthood. She had missed that in her other relationships, the friendship. Even when she wasn't in love with Ridge, he was still her number one best friend which always left the man she was with in position number two. She now knew she wouldn't settle for less; the next man she loved had to be her best friend, husband, and lover rolled into one. She would no longer let herself be divided by the different men who held those various jobs. Shaking her head, she subtly prompted Ridge to leave his musings behind and continue with his story.

"Then we went to see James. And he was stunned if that's even the right word to use for him. He looked how we must have looked when we found out Bridget wasn't my biological daughter. To see that hurt, that shock, that pain on another human being's face- -"

Poor James. She knew what he was going through. How lost he felt. How one sentence could change your whole life, turn your world upside down, make night seem like day and day seem like night. She would like nothing better to reach out to her old friend, old love, but she knew he needed time more than anything else to be able to adjust. First Mary and now this.

"I asked him if I could adopt them- -"

"Ridge, the man just found out that he has twin daughters while he's in the midst of trying to save the sanity of his mentally unstable daughter."

"I understand that. But Phoebe and Stephie deserve to have their life settled as quickly as possible. Their lives can't hang in the balance because James decided to have a kid with loony Shelia."

Part of her agreed with him that he had a point. The girls did deserve to have things resolved as quickly as possible. But gosh, he could be such an insensitive clod at times. "What did he say?"

"He said he had to think about it. But he agreed that time was of the urgency. So see, I'm not insensitive."

She hated that he could read her mind at times. "Yes, you are. Did you guys decide to tell the girls?"

"Yes, actually, it was James' suggestion."

Interesting. "Was he there with you?"

"No, he thought it was best if Taylor and I did it by ourselves."

"How- -"

"They took it as well as six-year-olds can. They said they understood. But before they left the room, they turned to me and asked if I would still be their daddy. I assured them that I would be and they took off to go to the playroom. I said my goodbyes to them and promised to see them tomorrow for their week with daddy, and then I ran out of that house and broke down in the car. Brooke, I assured them I would be there for them. I promised them I would always be there. Yet, Bridget and Ric, I left them in the lurch. I left them with nothing, less than nothing. One day, they had the family people dreamed of, and I destroyed it all over one test result. One result that didn't change how I felt about my princess or my champ. Distance didn't change it, but I allowed them and everyone to think it did."

Remaining silent, Brooke wiped the tears from her eyes. She had known in her heart that he still loved Ric and Budge just like they were his biological children. But how do you force someone to admit that? Why would you want to force someone to admit that? She had dreamed and fantasized about confronting him and making him tell their children the truth about his feelings so their pain could stop, so they would no longer wonder if their Papa still loved them, but she never did. She couldn't. The thought of them hearing that he left them because he wasn't their biological father, when he hadn't been Ric's from the very beginning, wasn't something she wanted her children to hear come from his lips. So instead, she bared the pain and the cries of her children alone.

"I was such a misguided, selfish dick."

She wasn't going to disagree with him.


	18. Chapter 18

"Stephanie, I'm so sorry I hurt you and that I lied. I just- -," Taylor cried.

"There, there, sweetie," Stephanie crooned, taking her daughter-in-law in her arms and rocking her gently. "It's okay. Everyone makes mistakes." While she was hurt that Taylor felt she couldn't turn to her with all her problems, she put that aside. Her first and most important job was to offer comfort and understanding. Lifting Taylor's face, Stephanie stared into the eyes of the woman she had loved seemingly since the moment she met her. "You are my daughter, Taylor Hayes Forrester. One not of my body, but of my heart. I love you. And there's nothing you can't tell me ever. Do you understand?"

Taylor nodded.

"You are every bit as much as my daughter as Ridge is my son. When I lost Angela, I prayed that God would send me another daughter. And He did, in the form of you. And I know in my heart your mother, Sharon, is taking care of Angela as I'm taking care of you."

Taylor poured out a gut wrenching sob; she never expected such words, such forgiveness, such love, such understanding from Stephanie. She amazed her. "I love you, Mom."

"I love you, Daughter."

That whore was going to pay for her hurting her daughter. She was going to pay big time. Watch out Brooke Logan, Stephanie Forrester was taking off her gloves .

* * *

"Yes, I can hear you're having a good time with Budge and Ric. No, I'm not too lonely without you and Hope," Brooke reassured her son, who worried too much about her. Was that her fault? Did he worry because she had left him to be reared by her parents and Donna and Colton? No, she couldn't go down that path.

The doorbell rang.

"I promise, I'm fine. Yes, I'm eating dinner by myself. Yes, I'm okay with that."

The doorbell rang again.

She went, opened the door without looking, and was surprised to see Stephanie standing on her front door step. "I promise you, I'm fine. Remember I had a whole life before you and your brother and sisters came along, okay? I love you guys. Now go have fun," she concluded and hung up the phone. "Stephanie."

"Brooke," Stephanie greeted, stepping inside without being asked.

"Please come in," Brooke muttered to herself, following the older woman to the living room. "What can I do for you?"

"You think you have it all made now, don't you? You bring your bastard child around, break up Taylor and Ridge's marriage, and now you've gotten rid of this son you didn't raise so you can spread your legs for my son. Well, I've got news for you, missy. It's not going to happen. You may worm your way back into my son's bed, but you won't be getting a ring on your finger again."

Brooke sighed. She had really hoped Stephanie was over for some other reason than to yell insults and threats, but she should have known better. At least the kids weren't here. "My son isn't a bastard- -"

"Your marriage to Ridge wasn't legal- -"

"And if you say one word ever again about any of my children I will put my shoe where the sun don't shine. My children are off limits to you. All of them. I don't want their names on your lips. When Ric and Bridget come to visit their dad, you make sure you're not there. They've put up with being caught between us for too long. And that's my fault. I should have put an end to your tyranny a long time ago, but I was weak. I wanted to have the type of mother and daughter-in-law relationship where I referred to you as Mom.

Stephanie huffed.

"That was a dream, I was being a naïve, delusional girl. But that girl is now dead, and in her place is a woman who will no longer allow this foolishness. And if anyone is a whore, it's you- -"

Stephanie gasped.

"Yes," she nodded, "I called you a whore. My mother was happy dating Eric and you couldn't stand it, so you used what you had and that age old 'accidentally' pregnancy to get him."

"How dare you! Your mother- -"

Walking towards Stephanie, Brooke shook her head. "You so don't want to finish that statement. Now I can't be that angry with you because if you hadn't, Ridge wouldn't be here and neither would my precious Justin. So thanks for being a whore. Now it's time for you to leave. If I see or hear from you again, I will tape Ridge and I having sex in every room of your house and then post it all over the internet. I will make the Paris Hilton sex tape look like child's play." She kept walking, pushing Stephanie out of the living room and back towards the front door. "And even if I did that, you know what? Your son would still be over here at night having dinner with me and my children and tucking our son into bed."

Opening the front door, she pushed her ex-mother-in-law out the door. "Furthermore, Taylor and Ridge's marriage was over way before Justin and I even stepped onto the scene." She paused, staring at the older woman. She took in the salt and pepper hair, the aging lines around the eyes and on her face. This elderly woman no longer had any power over her. Stephanie Forrester no longer had the power to hurt her. "You've lost your power over me, and more importantly over Ridge. He doesn't run to you for every little thing anymore. And it kills you." She laughed. "It's killing you. You're pathetic and sick. I sometimes wonder if you wished it were your name that Ridge cried out in moments of passion." She slammed the door in Stephanie's shocked face.

Stephanie seethed inside. That poor white trash from the Valley would not best her or interfere in her family's life for much longer. Walking to her car, she pulled her cell phone from her purse and dialed. "Massimo, it's Stephanie."

Damn that felt good, Brooke thought. It was time to celebrate the extraction of Stephanie Forrester from her life.


	19. Chapter 19

"The stupidest thing you've done recently?" Brooke asked, lounging on the couch.

Sprawled across Brooke's oversized arm chair, Ridge answered her question honestly. "I was going to ask Taylor to remarry me so I could be assured Pheebs and Steph would always be mine."

Brooke popped up. What had he just said? Was he serious?

"You no good, self-righteous, arrogant bastard. You were going to remarry a woman you don't want to be with in order to stay with Phoebe and Stephanie? What were Budge and I - chopped suey?" Ric yelled, storming into the living room, dropping the bags of groceries in his hands.

Ridge opened his eyes and sat up. "Ric- -"

"Ric, what? What can you say? You would do anything in this world to be a father to any kid, except for me and Bridget. What - are we contaminated? Are we some aliens that are unworthy of having a father?"

The older man stood up and moved towards the angry young man.

"Ric," Brooke pleaded.

"No, Mom- -" Seeing Ridge approach him, he shouted. "Stay where you are."

Ridge raised his hands in supplication. "I was a weak man. I was too much of a coward to stand up for what was right to stay with you, Budge, and your mom."

"Oh, please. That's BS. At any time you could have come back. We would have welcomed you back with open arms."

"I came back- -"

"What?" Brooke whispered, turning her worried gaze from her son to her ex-husband.

"What?" Ric echoed.

"I stood outside the back gate and, as I stepped through, I heard your mom tell you and Bridget that you would be okay without me, without Dad, that you three were a family forever and always." Ridge wanted to close his eyes against the pain, but he refused to. He had to maintain eye contact with the boy, now a man that he had hurt so deeply. "And I froze. I was torn. Do I keep walking and destroy Logan's hard work or do I leave things be? I left. I could tell from her voice that she was hanging on by a thread and I knew that if I wasn't 100 committed, I couldn't come back to the three of you. And I wasn't, part of me was with Thomas. I wasn't in this house- - but I was there, lurking, and you were never far from my thoughts and always, always in my heart. I was there when you won your spelling bee in 5th grade. I was outside the fence watching as you captured first place in the freestyle medley, and when I was in town, I attended every one of your swimming events. Karate matches, school performances, anything you and Budge had going on, I was there. I should have come forward and let you see me, but my cowardice kept me hidden. Fear kept me from claiming my rightful place next to your mother as your father."

Brooke stared at the man talking about all the tings that she didn't know. He was there. He was always there in the shadows. She honestly didn't know if she was happy or more pissed than she had ever been at this knowledge. Glancing at Ric, she saw disbelief slowly edge out some of the anger written so clearly on his face and in his eyes.

"I used to sleep in Thomas' nursery and I can remember my mother and Taylor talking about it and thinking it was so cute. But I slept there because every night for I don't know how long, I dreamed of you and your sister. Every night I relived every moment we ever shared. I woke up with your name on my lips."

"And what good did that do us? None! We were still all alone! All we had was Mom and she had to be everything. Our mom, our dad, our best friend, our comforter, our cheerleader, our disciplinarian, our psychologist. There was no one here for us except her. I don't care if you spent your whole marriage on that nursery floor, we wanted you here with us. I hated Thomas. You had this picture prominently displayed on your desk of the two of you, in the exact same spot that our picture used to sit. I bet it was even the same frame. You dumped our picture and replaced it with your new family, the one you really loved- -"

"You could never be replaced." Ridge ran his fingers through his hair. How could he ever explain things? Make things right. "You hated Thomas, probably as much as I hated Dad. When you were born and I held you for the first time, I felt something I had never felt before. And at the moment, I hated my father more than I ever hated anyone in my life because he was the one you were going to call Dad. He was the one you were going to turn to when you needed something or someone. You were this perfect little baby who didn't look like Logan or Dad, you looked just like you. And you opened those eyes and they were my Logan's eyes staring back at me. And your attitude as you grew was pure Logan, and I was utterly besotted by a toddler who could channel his Uncle Storm better than I had ever seen or heard. And when I was honored with the privilege to be your dad, it was all my favorite holidays wrapped up in one to the billionth power." He moved towards Ric.

"No, no," Ric cried.

"Yes, yes." He would no longer be a coward or let fear keep him from reaching out. He would reach out and damn the consequences. He touched Ric's arms and immediately the beating began.

Ric pounded on his chest. "Why? Why? Why? Why did you leave? Why didn't you love us enough? Why do you fight for a place in Hope and Justin's life, but you didn't for me and Budge? Why weren't we good enough? Why wasn't I good enough for you to love? To be proud to be seen with? Why wasn't I good enough? Why wasn't I good enough to have a dad?"

_And I wear all your old clothes  
Your polo sweater  
I dream of another you  
One who would never, never  
Leave me alone  
To pick up the pieces  
Daddy to hold me  
That's what I needed  
So why'd you have to go?  
Why'd you have to go?  
Why'd you have to go?  
_  
_Son to father  
Son to father  
I don't know you, but I still want to  
Son to father  
Son to father  
Tell me the truth  
Did you ever love me?  
'Cuz these are, these are,  
the confessions  
Of a broken heart  
Of a broken heart_

_I love you  
I love you  
I love you  
I, I love you..._

Sensing the two men needed privacy, Brooke placed a box of tissues next to them and quietly made her way upstairs

Ridge pulled his son in his arms and held him as they both cried. "You are one of the greatest things that has ever happened to me. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry I didn't tell you that, show you that. I'm sorry I left. I'm sorry I hurt you. I love you. I love you. I love you and I'm here for good. You couldn't get rid of me now if you wanted to. You want to travel to the pits of hell, I'm right there next to you. You travel to the moon, you've got a space buddy." He pulled back for a moment and looked into his son's eyes. "I'm not going any where. Not anymore. And this promise has nothing to do with your mom. Eric Forrester, Junior, you are my eldest living child and I love you from the top of the sky- -"

"To the bottom of the ocean."

Pulling his son back into his arms, he allowed himself to close his eyes and kiss the top of Ric's head.

"This doesn't mean I've stopped hating you," Ric informed him between cries.

"I know. I didn't expect it to. And I still love you." Ridge laughed through his tears.

"Mom, why didn't you want me to live with you?" Justin asked quietly as his mom tucked him in.

Okay, that just came out of left field, Brooke thought, as she put away the last of Justin's laundry. She walked over to Justin's bed and leaned beside him. She kissed his forehead. "I wanted you to live with me more than anything in the world, but it wasn't what was best for you."

"Why wasn't it?"

How did she explain this to her baby so that it would make sense? "I was terrified that you were going to get hurt and I would sacrifice anything to keep you and your sisters and your brother safe."

"How was I going to get hurt? And weren't Ric and Budge going to get hurt too?"

"Unfortunately they did get hurt too, but not as much as I feared you would."

"Why would I get hurt more? Because of Dad?"

She nodded. "There were people who would hurt you because of who your dad was."

Justin nodded. "I missed you when you weren't there."

Climbing onto the bed and pulling her son into her arms, Brooke hugged him close. "I know. I missed you too. I wanted to be able to do this ever since I left you in San Diego."

"Why couldn't I have stayed with Dad?"

Continuing his annoying new habit of being soundless, Ridge sat on the other side of Justin's bed. "Because I didn't know about you."

"Why didn't Dad know about me?"

"Because I felt that would put you in more danger- -"

"Even after I was born?"

She could see the hurt in his eyes, along with the desire to understand her answers that were just not meant for a nearly twelve-year-old boy to understand.

"Yes, even after you were born," Ridge answered for her. "Your mom and I both made decisions that led to you having to live with your Grandma, Grandpa, Aunt Donna, and Uncle Colton. We wished it wasn't so, but- -"

"If wishes were horses," Justin finished.

Surprised, Ridge nodded.

"Uncle Storm."

Yes, that did sound like a Stormism. "We're sorry that we hurt you. That you weren't here to be raised with your brothers and sisters, but it wasn't safe for you- -"

"And now it is?"

"Yes."

"Would it have been safe if I hadn't run away and come up here on my own?"

Ridge and Brooke shared a look over their son's eyes. The detail they hoped he wouldn't mention.

"After we talked on the phone that day, I called Uncle Storm and talked to him about you moving up here," Brooke responded.

"Really?" The glee that had been missing earlier in the conversation was now returning.

"Really. You were miserable. I was miserable and I felt that I was finally able to protect you the way you should be protected."

"Mom, I'm almost twelve. I can protect myself, you, and Hope."

She smiled at her son. How had she lived without him being in her arms and in her house for so long? "Just, when you're in your 60s and I'm in my 90s, I'll still be worried about you. That's what moms do. They worry and they protect their young. Right, Ridge?"

Ridge heard his name being called, but couldn't focus. He was stuck on Brooke's statement about talking to their son on the phone. How many times had he come into her office and she'd been on the phone with Justin? How many times had he teased her about her secret lover in San Diego when really she was visiting their son? The son she feared he would hurt.

"Ridge?" Brooke said again.

He couldn't think about this now. It was in the past. And after his emotional and soul-baring breakdown with Ric, he couldn't deal with anything else. Not today. "Sorry. Yes?"

"Parents are fierce about their children?"

"Yes, they are."

"So me being in San Diego didn't mean that you didn't love me as much as you loved Ric, Bridget, Hope, Thomas, Phoebe, and Stephie?"

Wrapping his arms around both Brooke and Justin, he kissed the top of his son's head. Would the damage never stop surfacing that he, and in this case, they had caused? "Never. Never. We love you as much as we love your siblings. Always have and always will."

"I love you, Justin Storm," Brooke reiterated. "From the moment the doctors told me you were growing inside of me until I take my last breath and beyond, I will love you."

"I love you guys, too. Does this mean I can become Justin Storm Logan Forrester instead of Justin Storm Forrester Logan?"

"I think that definitely can be arranged," Ridge assured his son. Why hadn't he thought of that earlier?

The threesome lay there quietly for a while, absorbing everything in.

"Was the evil Grandmother one of the people who could hurt me?"

It sounded like Thomas and Zende had been talking. Why did she forget kids talked, gossiped, had big ears, and were very, very observant?

"Yes, my mother was one of the people we wanted to protect you from."

She held her breath for a moment when she heard Ridge's use of the word "we." Was he taking responsibility along with her about Justin's upbringing? She guessed he was.

"Oh," Justin exclaimed.

Once again silence overtook the room. Brooke and Ridge both made themselves more comfortable on their son's full sized bed without ever losing touch with him.

"I'm glad I'm home."

"So are we," his parents said in unison.

And a peaceful quietness fell over the little family.


	20. Chapter 20

"Dunk it! Dunk it!" Brooke shouted at the top of her lungs to Thomas as he dribbled the ball down the court.

"Logan," Ridge said glaring at her.

"What? What if the company goes bankrupt? Our stock would be worthless. So we need a backup plan," she said, never taking her eyes off the game.

"The boys playing professional basketball?" he inquired.

"Yes," Kristen nodded. "I dream of the day where Zende tells us that we don't have to spend a penny of our retirement money because he's going to take care of us the way we took care of him with all of his endorsements and signing bonuses. Imagine how many Jimmy Choo shoes I could buy with our retirement money," she said dreamily.

"Tons, maybe even some Manolo Blahniks," Brooke added.

"Oh, yes," Kristen agreed.

"No jewelry?" Simone asked.

"Nah, I'm not really into jewelry."

Tony, Ridge, and Connor looked over the women's heads and rolled their eyes.

"We saw that," Brooke informed the men who, in turn, feigned innocence.

"Hello," Taylor greeted everyone, climbing the bleachers to reach them.

"Hello," Ridge, Brooke, Tony, Kristen, Connor, and Simone returned.

"Have I missed much of the game?" Taylor asked concerned.

"Not too much," Ridge assured her.

"Where are the girls?"

"In the minivan with Connor's Aunt Charlene and cousin Lucy not letting my Rose sleep," Simone answered. "Go Tommy! Go!"

"Watch out, son!" Connor shouted.

The proud parents cheered when their sons' team crushed their opponents.

"Ridge, I think our son with a little work could go all the way," Brooke grinned.

Ridge laughed. "Before you women go spending the boys' money could they at least start puberty and we can sort of tell how tall they'll be."

"Well actually, Ridge- -" Simone began.

"Simone, put your doctor hat away, you're on maternity leave. You're a new mother to a precious six-week-old enjoy it!" Ridge reprimanded.

"Here, here," Connor chimed in. "Wait, am I agreeing with Ridge Forrester?"

"Watch out, Connor, or next you'll be sharing barbeque recipes with Stephanie," Brooke added.

"Oh, you're so funny, Logan," Ridge retorted.

"She's just speaking the truth," Kristen laughed. "Can you imagine that - Mom barbequing?"

The group of adults laughed trying to imagine the refined older woman doing such a task.

Thomas, Zende, Tommy, and Justin ran up to the group and gladly basked in the praises for their performances, as they walked out of the gymnasium.

"Ridge, you're taking the kids tonight, remember?" Taylor reminded him as they watched the Davis and Dominguez families drive out of the parking lot.

"I'm sorry, Doc. I completely forgot and my car is full of fabrics."

"Ridge, I told you about the dinner conference that I can't miss over a week ago," Taylor informed him.

"I know. I'm sorry."

"Here," Brooke said, handing Taylor the keys to her cherry red Corvette. "You can arrive at the conference in style and be the envy of everyone there and I'll drive the kids in your minivan."

"Oh Brooke, are you sure?"

"Yes, I'm sure. Now off you go. We can do a car exchange around lunch time tomorrow."

"That will be great," Taylor said. Glancing at her watch, she noticed the time. "Thanks Brooke. I better get going."

"You're welcome. Have fun."

"Yeah, Doc. Have a good time. And more importantly meet a rich doctor, run off and marry him, then I can stop paying you alimony."

"Ridge," both his ex-wives admonished him at the same time.

"It's the truth," he laughed.

Running to her car, she quickly kissed her kids, wished them a good night, hopped in Brooke's sports car, and took off as she blew kisses and "I love yous" out of the window.

"I'll pick up Hope and meet you at your place," Ridge said to Brooke.

"Sounds like a plan. How do you guys feel about pizza tonight?" she asked the kids as they climbed into Taylor's minivan.

Cheers were heard throughout the parking lot as she pulled out of the parking space.

"Hello," Brooke muttered sleepily into the phone. Who was waking her up at this time of the night?

"Is this the residence of Brooke Logan?" the voice asked.

"Yes. May I ask whose calling?" she asked in return. Becoming anxious and alert, she sat up and turned on her lamp on her nightstand.

"Yes, ma'am. This is Detective Lisa Turtle of the LAPD."

Oh my. "Is it Ric? Is my son hurt?"

"Ma'am, are you Brooke Logan?"

"Yes. What happened?" Quickly getting out of bed, she opened her drawer and dressed in a jogging suit.

"Do you own a red- -"

"Taylor. Is she okay?"

"Ma'am, do you own a red- -"

"Yes, I own a red Corvette and I let my- - my friend, Dr. Taylor Hayes Forrester borrow it tonight. Is she okay? Please tell me she's okay," Brooke pleaded.

"Ma'am- -"

Running down the stairs, she quickly left a note for the visiting and currently sleeping Bridget. "Where do I need to go? What hospital is she at?"

"Cedars Sinai, but Ms Logan- -"

Brooke hung up the cordless phone, grabbed her keys, ID, and a coat and ran out the door.

"Hello. Can you help me? I'm looking for Taylor Hayes Forrester," Brooke asked the nurse at the emergency room desk.

The nurse nodded. "Could you please wait over there and I'll send someone right out?"

"Is she okay? She has to be okay."

"Just have a seat and someone will be right out."

This couldn't be good. If Taylor was okay wouldn't they have taken her right back to her? Allow her to see her, to reassure herself that everything was okay?

"Excuse me, Ma'am?" the nurse asked.

"Yes?"

"What is your relationship to- -"

"Her sister," she said, without blinking or stuttering. Weren't they sisters in Ridge? She smiled. Two women in love with the same man for two decades.

"Miss Logan, I'm Detective Lisa Turtle," the petite black woman introduced herself.

"She's dead," she said, more to herself as the tears flowed unchecked down her face.

Lisa hated this part of her job, but unfortunately, it went with the territory. "Ma'am, I'm so very sorry for the loss of your sister. The doctors are ready for you to identify her body."

Brooke took a deep breath and stood. "What happened?"

"The accident is being investigated. But what we can tell so far is that she lost control of the car while trying to pass another car, her car hit the divider, and the force of the impact threw her from the car. I know this is of little comfort now, but the doctor said she was more than likely unconscious when the car hit the divider and died instantly when her neck broke."

"No, you're right, it doesn't help," Brooke said. She bowed her head and prayed for strength. "I'm sorry that was rude. I'm grateful she didn't suffer."

Hearing the sincerity of Brooke's words, Lisa forgave her. "It's okay. I understand. Are you ready?"

Brooke nodded and followed the detective down the hallway to the elevator, down to the basement, down another corridor to the morgue.

Turning to face the older woman behind her, Lisa looked in Brooke's eyes, trying to determine if the woman could handle this next and final step. She saw determination and strength. This one wasn't a fainter.

"Take me to her, please."

Lisa pushed open the door, and after nodding at the morgue attendant, she ushered Brooke in as the attendant lowered the sheet.

Brooke looked down at the face of her one-time rival, the mother of her children's siblings, the woman Ridge always chose. Taylor Hamilton Hayes Forrester was dead. She slowly raised her hand and touched the cold flesh of the woman she had just spoken to a few hours ago. She noticed the scratches left on Taylor's face when she hit the pavement of the freeway. Looking at the attendant, she asked, "Can make-up cover this, yet keep her looking natural? She didn't wear a lot of make-up. She preferred the natural look."

The attendant looked to the detective before he answered. Once he had approval and thanks to his time working at a funeral home, he could answer the question competently. "Yes, they shouldn't have to add to much make-up to cover up the scratches. Maybe a little blush and you won't notice."

Brooke nodded. Taylor had to look like herself. She continued to stare; other than the scratches on her face and a few on her hand, Taylor looked like she was sleeping. How could she be dead? She was only two years older than Brooke. She had young children at home. Kids that needed her and depended on her. Taylor would never see the girls shed all of their baby teeth, agonize as Thomas plowed through puberty. She would never meet her children's future mates, never hold her first grandchild. She would never find the love she had deserved. A man that could and would love only her. Stroking the raven hair, she sent a silent prayer up for Jack, Zach, Thomas, Phoebe, Stephie, and even Stephanie. She knew they would be devastated by this news. Leaning over, she kissed the good cheek and whispered in Taylor's ear. "Vaya con Dios." Straightening up, she turned to Lisa. "What's next?"

"Follow me and you can fill out the paperwork to have her body released and we need contact information as the details of the accident become clearer."

"Thank you both," Brooke said to the attendant and the detective.

They nodded, and Brooke quietly followed Lisa out of the morgue, leaving behind the once alive Taylor Hamilton Hayes Forrester, mother, daughter, sister, friend and doctor.


	21. Chapter 21

Brooke wanted to scream or rather she wanted to crawl into a hole and have a breakdown. It was all becoming too much: Taylor's unexpected death; the guilt that it was her car that Taylor had the accident in; the guilt over being glad it wasn't her that died; the shock that her brakes had been faulty; Thomas, Phoebe, and Stephie's reaction to their mother's death by not letting her or Ridge out of their sights; Hope's jealousy at the other kids being so close and touching her all the time; Jack and Stephanie's open hostility and anger; Stephanie trying to stop Taylor's kids from turning to her for comfort; and Ridge's lack of emotion over everything although, he was giving the kids all the love and support they needed.

Thank God, Bridget moved back in to help with the kids. Katie and Storm had been a godsend in helping to distract Hope from the amount of attention being paid to her older siblings. Justin was being a trooper helping out wherever and whenever he could, as was Ric.

She had known life was going to change drastically once Taylor's death was made known, but she didn't realize how much it would affect her personally. She didn't expect Thomas, Phoebe, and Stephie to turn to her for comfort and support. And of course, this served only to irritate and anger both Stephanie and Jack. They did whatever they could to get the children away from her, but the children refused to leave her side. And the older duo truly hated her, when they found out it had been car that Taylor had been driving. The final nail in her coffin was when the children refused to go back to either Taylor's or Ridge's homes, they would only stay with her. And no amount of pleading by either grandparent would sway them to stay any place else.

It was hard to give Taylor's kids the love they needed when the tension surrounding them was so great and the hate so consuming. She tried to be understanding. Jack had lost his oldest child and only daughter and Taylor had been another daughter to Stephanie. She knew all to well the pain of losing a child, but they were really working her very last nerve. Ridge fully supported her and stood up for her, but that didn't stop the glares and the stress the kids were feeling.

Leaning her head back against the tub, she willed the hot water to soothe and calm her. Even in what use to be her sanctuary, she kept the bathroom door slightly open in case someone needed her.

Her thoughts drifted to Taylor's funeral. It had been elegant and dignified just as Taylor had been in life. The fact that the funeral even went off without a hitch was a miracle after all the internal fighting between Ridge and Jack over whom should plan the funeral. Although the divorce was finalized, Ridge felt because he was Taylor's children's father he should for the sake of their children. Jack, who now hated Ridge for divorcing his daughter, reminded Ridge that he was the legal next of kin and Ridge should be glad if he even got invited to the funeral. Luckily, Stephanie intervened and due to her love for Taylor, Jack allowed her to help plan the services.

Lying in a white coffin in a pale yellow suit Phoebe and Stephie had helped her buy just a few weeks before her death, Taylor looked like she was just napping and that any moment she would wake up and get out of the coffin. But that was never going to happen, no matter how much everyone wished it would. She and Ridge wondered how much the twins understood of what was going on. At times it seemed they fully understood their mother was never coming home again, never going to pick them up from ballet, never say "I love you" again. And other times, she and Ridge were faced with the realization the girls had a long way to go.

Last night at dinner, Phoebe asked if she kissed mommy would mommy wake up. Before Brooke could respond, Stephie answered, rolling her eyes, and told her twin, "No, mom's dead, not sleeping." And just as quickly as the question and answer came up they disappeared and the twins began talking about the shenanigans that went on in their computer class that day.

Where the twins would talk about Taylor sporadically, Thomas was quiet and had become very introspective. She knew he hadn't fully forgiven his mother for what he deemed breaking up his brothers' family. She, Ridge, and Taylor all tried to talk to him about how things were back then, but Thomas was as stubborn as his grandmother and did not buy any of their explanations. It always amazed her that Thomas felt so strongly about the past, yet Justin accepted things just didn't work out and let it go. She shook her head. The two brothers couldn't be more different in some aspects. She hoped the guilt he felt at the tarnished relationship he had with Taylor at the time of her death wouldn't eat him alive. Ridge had Dr. Collins on the lookout and he told Thomas he had an open session with Dr. Collins whenever he wanted one. So far Thomas had yet to take Ridge or Dr. Collins up on that offer.

Guilt. Guilt was something she was becoming very familiar with. She was working hard to not let it consume her. She still couldn't process that- -that could have been her in that car on that freeway lying dead. If she had driven the corvette a little longer it would have been Ric, Bridget, Justin, and Hope crying over her cold, still, dead body.

Because it was her car that Taylor was driving, she was kept in the loop about the findings in Taylor's accident, much to the chagrin of Jack and Stephanie. Ridge was grateful to find out any information he could for his own peace of mind and for the kids when they got older.

She was waiting for Detective Turtle to call and update her on the case. Seconds later, the phone rang. "Hello, this is Brooke Logan."

"Ms Logan, this is Detective Turtle," the thirty-something black detective began.

"Logan! Logan!" Ridge shouted. "Budge said you were up here. Did you fall asleep in the tub?" Walking to the crack door, he peeped his head in the door and saw a nonmoving Brooke sitting in the whirlpool. "Logan." He noticed the phone near the tub. "What's wrong?" He became deeply concerned when she didn't respond. Rushing to her side, the cool water wet his skin as he touched her. "Logan, talk to me." Picking her up, he grabbed the nearest towel and wrapped it around her as he carried her to the bedroom. "Talk to me." He grabbed the pajamas laid out on the bed and dressed her. "Please, please, don't do this to me. Say anything," he begged as he towel dried her hair. Wrapping himself around her, as he gently laid her underneath the covers. He was glad he had firmly shut her door before he had made his way to the en suite bathroom. He didn't have to worry about anyone wandering in. "Please say something. Tell me what's wrong? What happened? Who called?"

"It was me."

"What was you?" he asked, tightening his arms around her.

"It was me," she turned to face him, burying her face in his chest.

"Logan, I can't help if you don't tell me what was you," Ridge demanded, trying hard to keep the fear out of his voice. He was desperately trying to keep the flashbacks from Brooke waking him and telling him about Taylor out of his mind. He couldn't lose another one. He couldn't lose her. He held her tightly as she cried.

"The brakes and the steering wheel were tampered with. It was a professional job, Detective Turtle told me. Someone was trying to kill me and Taylor was the innocent victim," Brooke admitted in a whisper waking Ridge from his doze.

Someone had tried to kill Brooke. What? Who?

"She asked me for a list of people who hate me. Could anyone hate me enough to try and kill me? I guess so."

"Is she sure?"

"She said she personally tripled checked the results of the findings. I couldn't think of anyone to put on the list and she said to me, 'Who else besides Stephanie Forrester, Jack Hamilton, and Macy Forrester hates you enough to make an attempt on your life?' She already had a list with Stephanie, Jack, and Macy on it."

Smart detective. Those three were at the top of his list. Didn't statistics show that the vast majority of time your killer was someone who was related to you or you knew? Very rarely were people murdered by complete strangers.

"She put them on the list just from her observations of our interactions since Taylor died."

Smart and observant, he liked this detective more and more.

"I know Stephanie tried to strangle me once before- -"

"What!"

She forgot that she and Thorne had promised to keep that to themselves. Taking a deep breath, she told him her account of the Big Bear incident.

His mother did that? And Thorne and Brooke didn't tell anyone? He could have lost her. Bridget, Ric, and Justin could have lost her and Hope would have never been born. Pulling her tighter, he made sure there was not even a millimeter between them. What would he ever do without her?

"Ridge that could have been in that car. It was supposed to be me. Someone wanted me in Taylor's white coffin with Taylor looking down on me," she sobbed.

"I'm here," he comforted as he rocked her. What else could he say to her? If he said, but it wasn't you, it would compound the guilt he knew she was already feeling about Taylor's death. Regardless of how many times, he, Storm, and everyone who loved her told her it wasn't her fault; he knew she didn't believe them. First thing in the morning, wait, it was morning already. Later in the morning, he would hire the best security team. Whoever was trying to harm his family, didn't know who the hell they were messing with. He would gladly die to protect Brooke and their children. They were all he left.

The sorrow was threatening to consume her, she felt like she was drowning. She needed something, she sensed they both did. She lifted her head and brushed her lips against his. He took charge of the kiss and soon her mind was focused on the pleasure.

With Ridge draped around her, she carefully moved without disturbing him, grabbed her spare cell phone and dialed the digits by heart. "Taylor's accident was intended for me."

The person on the other end of the line sat up straight in the luxurious, black leather chair. "Mija, I told you those Forresters were no good- -"

"You don't know that a Forrester was involved."

"You're right, but I will by the end of business day."

Hearing the line go dead, she turned off the phone and put it back in its hiding place. By the end of the day, she would know who wanted her dead. Her mind was relieved that the answer was forthcoming, but her heart ached at the idea of someone hating her so much that they would hire someone to kill her. Who was so cowardly that they couldn't kill her face to face?


	22. Chapter 22

"Brooke, you're going to wear a hole in the carpet if you keep pacing," Thomas informed her.

Brooke stopped pacing and looked at Thomas quizzically. That was a very grown-up statement and so not Thomas.

"My mom used to say it," he answered softly.

Her heart rejoiced that he was finally talking about Taylor, but she didn't want to scare him off so she wouldn't make a big deal about it. She nodded. "Moms have a lot of sayings like that. Do you really think I could wear a hole in the carpet just by walking on it?"

"Nah. It's as dumb of saying as 'if your friends were going to jump off a bridge, would you do it too?'"

"Yeah, when was the last time a group of friends jumped off a bridge?"

Thomas smiled and giggled a little.

She began pacing again, willing the phone to ring.

"Do you think my mom died being sad because I couldn't forgive her?"

Walking over to Thomas, she sat on the arm of the sofa next to him. "Your mom knew you were trying hard to process a lot of information, much more than any twelve-year-old should have to. Information that even us adults have a hard time dealing with. She wasn't sad. She was very proud that you were open enough and honest enough to discuss your feelings with her. Your being able to do that confirmed what a close relationship the two of you had. Not many sons or daughters could have done what you've done."

"You were nice to Mom. Didn't you hate her for making you send Justin away?"

Why did these kids have to deal with these issues, burdens that she, Ridge, and Taylor created? "She didn't make me do anything- -"

"But you sent Justin away- -"

"Not because your mom came back or because of you," she continued, giving him a knowing look. "I did what I felt what was best for my son. No one is to blame for that. It was all me."

Thomas gave her a doubtful look.

"It was. No one, not your mom or dad or grandma, none of them forced me to do anything I didn't want to. And how could they when they didn't even know I was pregnant with Justin?" She let that last statement soak in for a minute. "You know how I like to remember your mom?"

He shook his head.

"Just the way I saw her in the parking lot. Telling you, Pheebs, and Stephie that she loved you as she drove away with the wind in her hair, looking happy. That's the image of Dr. Taylor Forrester I'll always carry with me and that's what I'll tell your kids when they ask me about the grandma they never got a chance to meet," she told him honestly.

He sighed and smiled slightly. "She was happy, wasn't she?"

"Yes, she was. She had a son mature enough to discuss his problems with her and two adorable daughters, all three who loved her more than anything in the world and she them."

Tears poured down his face. She quickly moved to the other side of him and pulled him onto her lap. "Oh baby, it's okay. She loved you so much. And she knew you loved her just as much," she crooned as she held the sobbing pre-teen.

Minutes later the phone rang.

"You should get that," Thomas commanded.

"No, it's not important- -"

"You've been waiting all afternoon for the call. I'll be fine," he assured her, wiping his tears with the back of his hand. "Go."

"You sure?"

He removed himself from her lap and ran and answered the phone. "Hello… Yes, she's right here." Handing her the phone, he hugged her and left the room.

"Hello," she greeted.

"The spawn's son is answering your phone?" the voice greeted her in turn.

"He is not the spawn."

The voice laughed. "Is the sex really that great? Because he doesn't look like the type who could do much to satisfy a woman."

She shook her head with a smile on her face. "Do you have the information?"

"You're sleeping with him again?"

She remained silent.

"Brooke Logan."

"It was once," she admitted, knowing the conversation wasn't going any further until she answered, "before I called you."

"Make-me-forget-your mother-tried to kill me sex - that's understandable."

"Did she?" she whispered.

"Not directly, but a college friend of hers by the name of Massimo Marone hired one of the best to do so."

Falling onto the sofa, her mind reeled. Stephanie hated her so much that she wanted her dead. She wanted Justin and Hope to grow up without their mother. Justin was her grandson, didn't that hard-hearted woman even care? Obviously she didn't or she never would have called that thug Massimo, who gave her the creeps every time they were in the same room. A man who only knew her from stories he heard from Stephanie paid someone to kill her.

"Mija, don't let this break you. Don't let that evil bi- -"

"Never," she answered, brushing away her tears. She had to be strong and she needed a game plan. "The hire?"

"He seems to be missing."

Taking a deep breath, she nodded, although the other person couldn't see her as he told her everything he had discovered. "I'll call you back. Thank you."

"The spawn is near?"

"Yes."

The voice laughed, "See you think he's a spawn, too," and hung up before she could respond.

She shook her head with a slight smile on her face.

"Good news?" Ridge asked, holding Hope upside down with Phoebe and Stephie sitting on each foot.

"Unfortunately, no. Phoebe, Stephanie, take Hope upstairs and you guys can watch a movie in my room."

Sensing the importance of Brooke's words, the twins quickly got up, took Hope's hand, and exited.

"What's up?"

"Let's go outside. The boys are upstairs with Bridget."

Ridge followed her, already dreading what she had to say.

Taking seats across the table from each other, Brooke looked him straight in the eye and spoke. "Massimo Marone hired a man to tamper with the brakes and steering wheel and to make it all look like an accident."

His mother. His mother. She was sitting at home sobbing at the loss of Taylor, her beloved daughter-in-law, loving mother of her grandchildren, showing more emotion over Taylor than she ever had to Kristen, Felicia, or Thorne, yet she had no compulsions against killing the mother of her other grandchildren. How did she sleep at night? How could this monster be the same woman he called Mother? First Taylor's unexpected and tragic death and now this. This information would destroy his father, tear the very fabric of the Forresters apart. But maybe it was time for that to happen. "How did- -"

Brooke gave him a knowing look.

He groaned.

"Don't," she commanded, shaking her head. "I called who I had to."

He dropped his upcoming argument. He hated to admit it, but without that call they would have never discovered who was after Brooke.

"What do you want to do? This would kill your father."

His mouth dropped open; she never ceased to amaze him. After everything he, his mother, and his family had put her through, she still thought of what was best for the family. Brooke Logan Forrester was the true keeper of the Forrester legacy, even with all the pain and heartache it caused her. He couldn't allow her to do this. "Brooke, we're going to the police- -"

"So Thomas can have more issues about the complexities of the dysfunctional family relationships within this family? So Ric and Bridget can be torn about their renewing feelings for you? So Justin can carry more guilt about this being all his fault? So the twins could lose another person that they love so soon after losing their mother? So Hope can watch the Grandpa she adores wither and die before her eyes? No, that's not going to happen. I will not cause those children that kind of pain and heartache."

They sat in silence, contemplating the heavy task set before them.

"Whatever we decide has to honor Taylor's memory. It's the least we could do for her."

He nodded in agreement as he reached out his hand to her. She grasped it as they cried for the loss of the casualty of the war that a tortured and troubled woman began decades ago and for the tortured and troubled woman herself.


	23. Chapter 23

"You ready?" Ridge asked.

Brooke nodded. "As ready as I'll ever be. Are you sure about this?"

"No, this isn't about me. This is about you. Can you live with this?"

Taking a deep breath, she nodded. "Yes. Let them in."

"I love you, Logan."

"I love you, Forrester."

Ridge opened Brooke's office door and let Stephanie and Massimo in from the deserted outer office.

"What is all this secrecy about?" Massimo demanded. "I have a billion dollar empire to run. I don't have time for these little games of yours, Miss Logan. What have you dragged Ridge into this time?"

Holding her head high, Brooke pretended that she hadn't heard a word Massimo uttered. "Good evening, Massimo, Stephanie. Please have a seat. Would you like anything to drink?" She wanted to choke on her words, but she wouldn't, she couldn't. She could do this. She could look her attempted murderers and Taylor's murderers in the eyes. That which doesn't kill you, makes you stronger, she repeated the mantra continuously.

"Why are we? I want to spend as little time as possible in this den of iniquity that you use to defile the memory of Taylor. You should be ashamed of yourself, Ridge. Your beloved is barely cold in the ground and your shacking up with this whore allowing Thomas, Phoebe, and Stephie to influence their innocent minds- -" Stephanie reprimanded with disgust dripping from her voice.

"Mother, shut up," Ridge roared, shocking both his mother and Massimo. "Sit down and don't say another word until Logan is finished."

"Ridge- -"

"Mother, I said silence."

Unsure and unused to Ridge in such a mood, Stephanie wisely hushed.

She had envisioned this meeting going various many ways, but being in the same room with the two of them she wanted them out of her sight as quickly as possible. Reaching into her desk, she threw identical files in front of Stephanie and Massimo.

"What is this?" Massimo inquired suspiciously.

"Open them and find out," Ridge ordered.

Glancing at each other, Mass and Stephanie opened the files and began reading.

Stephanie gasped.

"Who made up these lies?" Mass demanded, as he swiftly leafed through the papers.

Having no patience for his lies, Brooke dived in with both feet. "You mean the truth that Stephanie asked you to get rid of me so I wouldn't taint her precious son or family any longer not caring what my death would have meant for my children whom she claims to love. You hiring Daniel Reyes, a professional assassin to kill me. He did a great job except for his little mistake of not taking into account that I might at whim give the keys to someone else to drive. But how was he to know that? All the time he spent watching me and studying me, he discovered I never let anyone drive that car. Ric's begged to drive it so has Bridget, but I've said no continuously to both. And since it's a two-seater, the chances of me riding Hope or Justin without Hope were slip to none. It was brilliant really on his part. Life is odd that way, a strange fluke can change everything. Ridge forgets he switched weeks with Taylor and the only vehicle available to transport all the kids was hers and so we switched cars. I hope you paid him well, he got the job done even if the wrong person was killed," Brooke said coldly.

"I don't have time for this rubbish," Massimo stated, standing up. "Stephanie, let's go."

Ridge pushed him back into his seat. "Please stay there's more."

"Ridge, you can't believe this? The sex with her can not be that good. For two seconds think with your other head. I hate the lying whore, but not enough to kill her. You and Taylor would have found your way back to each other and this woman," Stephanie said, pointing to Brooke, "would have been a distant memory. Taylor wasn't my daughter-in-law, she was my daughter. I loved her as if I had given birth to her."

"I know, Mother, that's the tragic part. Your hatred towards Brooke caused you to lose the person you loved second only to me, your precious, Stephanie-wannabe, Taylor."

"Ridge," Stephanie said outrage.

"Enough, Stephanie!" Brooke commanded. "If you look, you'll find pictures linking Mass to Daniel. Detailed diagrams by Daniel of his work to my car and a signed, notarized, by a reputable and renowned Los Angeles attorney, confession letter."

"That's impossible, he's dead," Mass yelled, realizing his dreadful mistake he tried to backpedal. "I mean- -"

"Mass shut up!" Stephanie ordered. "I know nothing about any of this. To think my own son, my first born- -"

"Mother save it. Daniel points the finger at you as the master mind behind the job in his letter."

Stephanie is speechless. This couldn't be happening. First Taylor and now this two-bit tramp was going to send her off to prison. She should have handled this job herself instead of trusting Mass. Hadn't she learned how useless men were and that if you wanted anything done well or right you had to do it yourself. How she wished she had finished the job in Big Bear.

Opening her desk drawer, Brooke threw a tape to Massimo. "You should have a copy of what you just said so if it ever ends up in the hands of the police you can't say you hadn't heard it. I want you gone in an hour. Don't you step foot in the States ever again. I don't even want your body buried here when you die a slow, lonely, miserable death for the murder you committed. If you have any contact or dealings with Stephanie or any member of the Forresters or Logans or anyone we know, your life won't be worth living. Get out!"

Massimo tried to stare down the woman that Stephanie had complained about at length, but he saw that it was pointless. There was a fire and a hunger for justice at all costs that he was smart enough not to mess with this woman. She had power and connections that Stephanie had no idea. He had let his emotions rule his head and a seemingly innocent woman died. He had seriously underestimated Brooke Logan and he would never make that mistake again. "Goodbye, Stephanie," he said and departed without a backwards glance.

"As for you- - don't speak," Brooke warned, seeing Stephanie attempt to talk. "I can't believe I ever looked up to you, wanted your approval, support, love, but have no fear those days are long past. The only reason you're not being banished is because of Taylor's love for you. But here's the deal, you're out of Forrester effective immediately- -"

"What! I helped build this company- -"

"You killed the woman you call your daughter and you're going to argue with me- - Stephanie, God help you, if you say one word to me, I will call Detective Turtle right now and give her everything in that file. And please, don't think I'm stupid enough to have only these copies, I have other copies in safe keeping just in case something happens to me, and they will be forwarded to the LAPD. Your new life will include seeing a psychiatrist five days a week, getting to know your other children and grandchildren, and most importantly not interfering in their lives. You're going to be the new and improved Stephanie who doesn't give her opinion unless specifically asked. And when you're not ask, you just nod your head and give your support. If Felicia and Zach get back together, you will happily smile and give them your blessing."

Stephanie grimaced.

"And don't worry about your office, it's already been packed up and will be delivered to your house first thing in the morning." Brooke paused. "I hope you take this second chance you've been giving and use it to honor Taylor."

"You don't know the first thing about what Taylor wanted or who she was. She was a lady, something you will never be and never was. I had nothing, nothing to do with her death. I loved her. If Massimo tried to kill you, then he did it on his own- -"

"Save it, Mother. Can't you at least be honest here? I already know what you did, the evidence is sitting in front of you. Please admit the truth."

Fire and outraged burned in Stephanie's eyes.

Brooke stared back at her with cold dead eyes. "If you step out of line once and Kristen will be visiting you on death row. And don't think when you're old, or rather older and feeble that you get a free slide, I would have no problem seeing a bedridden Stephanie stand trail for premeditated murder. So don't test me. Now get out of my sight."

Looking at her son with disappointment and disgust, Stephanie held her high and walked out of the office slamming the door behind her.

Ridge stared at the door. Who was that woman? Was she even sorry that she had murdered the mother of three of his children? Did she care? Or would she forever live in denial regarding her actions?

Walking over to her bed, Brooke collapsed. It was over. The twenty year war was over. Taylor's death had been avenged. She should be happy or at the very least relieved, but she felt neither. She- - she couldn't name what she was feeling and suddenly she found herself sobbing. She barely felt the bed shift or her being taken into stronger arms then her own, but she did feel the tears that were not her own soaking her forehead.


	24. Chapter 24 THE FINAL CHAPTER

Here's the final chapter ya'll. Thank you to everyone who read my story. A special thanks to those who dropped me a note. Thank you to Therese without her this wouldn't be a finished story.

* * *

Whoever said time heals all wounds never stood in the same room with a murderer playing and talking with the murdered's children. Two years later and it still creeped her out, but she dealt with it. Seeing the joy in Pheebs' and Stephie's faces as the interacted with their grandma made her live with the deal she had struck with the devil.

"Mom. Brooke," the twins called to her.

She watched as Stephanie swallowed her reaction to hearing Phoebe call her Mom. The twins didn't call her mom all the time, but more often than not they did, especially once the newly divorced Ric moved back into the house and Bridget deciding to stay there also. "Yes?"

"Grandma, show Mom the card trick," Stephie said.

Stephanie demonstrated the simple magic trick much to the girls' utter delight.

"Mom, are you claiming the trick I showed you as your own?" Felicia Hamilton inquired, walking over to the table.

"I learned from the best," Stephanie teased.

Brooke shook her head. The therapy seemed to be working. Kristen, Felicia, and Thorne had all been very leery when their mother started making overtures towards them, but over time and with consistency, they began working on their relationship. Eric had been stunned by his wife's decision to leave Forrester and equally amazed at her realizing they had other children besides Ridge. He had noticed Ridge's cooler relationship with his wife and tried to hint around about that, but she and Ridge both pretended not to notice as did Stephanie. Seeing the resistance he was up against, he dropped it and lived happily with the growth his wife had made. He probably ended up attributing it to Taylor's death. And she guessed, technically, that wouldn't be a wrong assumption.

Leaving the twins in the capable hands of their aunt, she never left any of the children alone with just Stephanie there always had to be another adult around, she walked over to the other guests.

"Brooke."

She stopped and walked over to pregnant Simone. Rubbing the little bump, she smiled. After all the years Simone had wasted with her first husband, Dr. Thomas Hardy, Senior, she was ecstatic that her friend had finally found happiness with a man who loved her. "You find a good man and all you do is stay knocked up?" she teased.

Simone rolled her eyes. She was glad to see the light coming back into Brooke's eyes. After Taylor's death, Brooke changed. She thought it was due to Ridge and his usual drama, but she had noticed differences in him also. So had Connor. But whatever it was, they both seemed to be coming back around. Though she had a sneaking feeling it had something to do with Stephanie, she had observed a chilling in that relationship of Ridge and Stephanie. Maybe one day when the time was right, she'd ask Brooke what happened. "Please. I would have waited a little longer. I've got a twenty-three-and-a-half-month-old daughter and in four months I'll have triplets."

"Ah, the luck of being the 1 in 705,000 women lucky enough to have triplets naturally," Brooke grinned.

"Bite your tongue. Of course, Tommy and Connor are over the moon."

"Of course. They don't have to carry three kids for nine months."

"I told Connor I'm not coming home from the hospital until he's had a vasectomy."

The two college roommates laughed.

"What did he say?"

"What could he say? He knew the cookie shop would be closed until he did, so he agreed. Five kids are enough. I don't know how you do it."

Brooke shrugged. "You do what you have to do. You'll soon discover."

"Brooke?" Ridge called.

"Excuse me."

Simone nodded.

"Yes," she said walking towards Ridge.

"Have you seen Justin?"

She thought for a moment, she hadn't seen him in a while. "No, I'll go see if I can hunt him down. He shouldn't be missing out on his own party."

"I'll look upstairs again."

Walking through her living and dining rooms, she nodded at her family and friends, as she headed outdoors. And there she found him sitting on top of the diving board, staring out at the water. Carefully, she climbed the stairs and sat down next to him.

"I've dreamed of this day since you took me to my first day of kindergarten. Kaleb's mom, dad, older brother, and younger sister were all there to wish him good luck on his first day. I looked at him and I wanted that. I didn't want you to be alone and I wanted a dad and sisters and brothers."

She had deprived her son of so much. And not just Justin, but Ric, Bridget, and Hope also. She had had the privilege of growing up happy in a two-parent home, but her children had not. She would always live with that guilt and the guilt that she had made too many attempts to create the perfect family for Ric and Bridget, knowing deep in her heart that it was never going to work. "I'm sorry."

Justin shook his head. "It's okay, Mom, because today my dream came true. I'm just like Kaleb now. Today, I became Justin Storm Logan Forrester. Dad and I made it official and all. Just like he did with Budge, Ric, Pheebs, Stephie, and Hope."

Yes, the twins. After Taylor's death, James came to see Ridge and told him that all his time and effort was being used to get his precious Mary back to reality full-time after the Ric debacle and finding out the truth about her mother, and he didn't see any reason this should affect or taint Phoebe and Stephanie's world. He told Ridge if the twins ever had any questions or wanted to see him, the door would always be open. James' assurance relieved Ridge immensely, but he still adopted the twins to feel doubly safe. Her heart sympathized with James', she knew how difficult it was to sacrifice one child, or in his case two children, for the sake of another.

"That's right, we did," Ridge agreed, sliding onto the board with them.

The teenager smiled brightly. "If I hadn't made the decision two and a half years ago to leave Aunt Donna's and Uncle Colton's, we wouldn't be here now- -"

"Running- -"

"I know, Dad, running away is not the answer. But if I hadn't I wouldn't be a legal Forrester, now would I?"

Ruffling her youngest son's hair, she put on a stern face. "Well, we'll never know now because you took matters into your own hands."

Properly chastened, Justin sat with Brooke and Ridge and enjoyed the sounds coming from inside the house.

"So Mom, you're the only in the house who's not a Forrester- -"

"Squirt, the party is inside," Ric yelled at his much adored younger brother.

"Yeah," Thomas echoed.

"Be quiet, Sport," Ric said.

"Make me," Thomas threatened. "No! No! Dad, stop him," he yelled, as Ric picked him up in a fireman's hold and threw him in the pool.

"Hey, you can't do that to our brother," Phoebe, Stephie, and Bridget reprimanded in unison as they pushed Ric in the pool; but at the last moment, he surprised them and held onto them, taking them in the water with him.

"Me too!" Hope screamed, jumping in after them.

Making a splash-less dive into the pool, Justin joined his siblings.

"You know he's right," Ridge commented, as they watched the party move outside and their children play in the pool.

"Come on," she said to Ridge, standing up and grabbing his hand.

"You didn't answer my question."

"I didn't hear one being asked."

Bending on one knee, Ridge faced her. "Brooke Logan, would you- -"

Using all her upper body strength, she pushed Ridge off the diving board sending him flaying into the water below.

Laughter erupted all around.

Seeing her family below her, she cannon-balled in to take her rightful place next to them.


End file.
